always & forever
by lovesmoonpie15
Summary: "Whether he's a handsome boy with funny scowl and warm eyes, or a hollow with bloodied claws and empty eyes, he's still the man she loves". A collection of IchiHime drabbles/one-shots through the years. Requests are accepted. Ratings may vary.
1. sunny days she brings

**Sunny days she brings**

" _The way you smile at me is like you hold a secret millions worth"._

They've been together for ten months now.

Being with her is like a dream come true, like a concretization of every fantasy he's ever had. They meet in the morning and she greets him with a smile… that smile, the one that's got him daydreaming like a fool. He knows it might be pathetic for some, but at this point he really doesn't care. He just loves being with her.

Yes, he, Kurosaki Ichigo, admits being completely in love with Inoue Orihime.

Maybe a few years ago he wouldn't admit so easily to himself that he loves her, but time has gone by, he's matured and so has she… he stopped caring about what others thought the minute he took her in the arms and kissed her.

In these ten months together, he knows her like he knows his name.

He knows about Enraku, her favorite plushy, because her brother gave it to her and she would never trade it for any other. It'll always be her favorite.

She has a scar beneath her knee, with a shape similar to Kira Izuru's Shikai. She got it when she was in Hueco Mundo, when those Arrancar girls were beating her up. He asked once why she never healed herself; she said, "it's a reminder that I survived".

Her favorite fruit and savor is strawberry; this still makes him blush, even after ten months. She owns a shirt of strawberries, a bag pack, lip-gloss, and also strawberry panties… but this one is far too intimate to comments, especially if you wonder how he knows that.

Her measurements were B-99, W-60, H-89. He's one hell of a lucky man.

She makes him the happiest man on this world. She probably doesn't even know it, but he'll make sure to always tell her, from now. She is the woman he loves.

She is his sun.

There are more little things, more things that complete her, and he could go on and on about how those little things mean the world to him, 'cause they're part of her, and he loves all of her. However, she was waiting for him right ahead, waving happily, with a huge grin on her lips, calling out:

"Ichigo-kun!"

She is shining, along with the sun, waiting for him.

And to her, he goes.


	2. big brother kazui

First of all, I wanted to thank everyone who reviewed! I'm sorry that the first drabble was so short, but I wanted only to give you guys a bit of Ichigo's feelings, and I was afraid it got too long and too tiring. But don't worry, I plan to keep writing, and there'll definitely be longer chapters (just not all of them, it's gonna be 50% short, 50% long). Anyone else who wants to request a drabble/one-shot feel free to ask me, and I'll write it for you.

 **Daianapotter,** thanks for your review, and I'll be sure to like your page, thanks for letting me know.

 **BeautifulFrozenNightmare,** Thank you so much for your kind words. Welp, here goes your request. I hope you enjoy, and feel free to ask me for prompts anytime. I might take some time to post them, but I'll certainly post it.

 **C.A.M.E.O.1 and Only,** I'm so glad you liked it! Oooh, I also imagine those thinks a lot, hehe, I have a lot of ideas for these two dorks. Thanks for reviewing.

 **The Glittery Ninja Espada** , thank you, and I'm happy you liked it. I also think we get to see more of Hime's side, so I decided to throw in Ichigo's side. Actually, I have like three other drabbles with his POV on how he feels about her, one of them being (spoiler) the moment he realized he loved her…

 **Aurona X,** Awww, thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it, I'll be sure to write more on Ichigo's POV.

…

 **Big brother Kazui**

(spoilers for chapter 686).

Another long sigh escaped Kazui's mouth, as he looked at the TV.

Instead of watching the anime, his mind was elsewhere. Ever since he'd arrived from school, the same question remained in his head. Not even his beloved dinner was able to take the question out of his mind. Because why?

Why didn't he have a little brother?

All of his friends had one. They complained all the time about how they had to share their mom and dad's attention with their little brother or sister, but Kazui couldn't see how that would bother him. Ichika was like an older sister, always scolding him with a superior smile that resembled a lot aunt Rukia's. But he liked her. So having a younger brother or sister to take care of sounded a lot like something good.

Actually, the idea of being 'big brother Kazui' brought a funny feeling to his chest, one that made him smile. And then his happy face would fall, once he was reminded that he did not have a little brother.

Were his parents still angry with him for going out at night to fight the evil monster? And his punishment was not having a little brother? Oh, no!

"Kazui-kun?" A sweet voice called out for him, and he looked up to see his mother. "What's wrong?"

"Mom, I'm sorry!" He jumped towards Orihime, holding her legs. "Please, forgive me!"

Orihime had a surprised look on her face, and turned to look at Ichigo, who seemed just as surprised as her. She carefully patted her son's head, in a comforting manner.

"What's wrong, sweetheart?" She lowered to his level. "Did something happen?"

"You and dad are mad at me!"

"Wha…?"

Ichigo arched his eyebrows.

"Yo, Kazui," He got up from the couch and walked towards his son, lowering to his level as well. "We're not mad at you, what makes you think that?"

"I'm so sorry for going out that night, I promise I'll never do it again!" He bowed respectfully to his parents. "Please, give me a little brother!"

Since he was bowing, he didn't see the funny faces his parents were making. His mother's mouth shaped into an 'O', and his father's face turned into a deep red. Since they didn't say anything for a while, he looked up to them.

"Are you two okay?"

"Ka… Kazui-kun… we…" Orihime was speechless. "Hm… Ichigo-kun?"

"…,"

"Kay," Orihime cleaned her throat, and turned to her confused son. He was blinking at her, with a hint of tears in his eyes. That made her sigh, and a motherly smile took over her lips. "We are not mad at you. Yes, you made us very worried that night… but as long as you don't do it again, we have no reason to punish you,"

He pouted.

"Then why don't I have a little brother?"

Orihime blushed, and turned to look at her husband, who looked at her back, and gave her a supportive tap on her back.

"You go, honey. I got your back,"

 _Traitor!_

She then narrowed her eyes, and sighed afterwards, resting her hands on Kazui's shoulders and bringing him closer to her.

"You see, Kazui-kun… your father and I… we work a lot… I spend too much time at the bakery, and your father's spends a lot of time at your grandfather's clinic… so maybe right now isn't the best time for us to give you a little brother …"

"But I'll take care of him! I'll be with him all the time, and I'll be a good big brother!" Kazui interjected. "Dad told me that big brothers take care of the little brothers and sisters that come after us, so it's my duty to protect them!"

A smile of remembrance took over Orihime, as she remembered her brother Sora. She looked at her side, and saw Ichigo with a similar smile, probably thinking about Karin and Yuzu. She reached out for his hand, and felt him squeezing it comfortingly not too long after.

"Oh, well…" She patted Kazui's head, and ran a hand through his orange hair. "Then I guess it's alright,"

Ichigo's squeeze on her hand only confirmed what she needed to know. He wanted it too. All they had to do was manage their time a little better, and… start working on it.

It'd always been Orihime's biggest wish; to have a large family. Now she had one, that consisted not only of Ichigo and Kazui, but Karin, Yuzu and Isshin as well. Not to mention her beloved friends who she thought of as family. So adding another member to their big family brought nothing but happiness to her heart.

"Really?!" Kazui asked, happily.

"Really," Ichigo confirmed.

"Yay!" He threw his arms up to the air, bringing joyful laughter to his parents. "Okay, then… where is he?"

Ichigo and Orihime's confused faces returned.

"Huh?"

"You said you'd give me a little brother… where is he?" Kazui looked around. "Are you going to pick him up somewhere? Or will he only come in Christmas?"

The fact that their son was only 6 suddenly hit Ichigo and Orihime, and they both started blushing again. _Oh, God._

Kazui still didn't know how babies were made.

"Erhm… hm… Kazui, babies… we don't order babies and pick them up somewhere," Ichigo explained, with a bump in his throat. This was more embarrassing than he'd thought! Oh, how he wished he could be as carefree as his father right now… "We make them,"

"Oh, really?" Kazui cocked his head to the side, innocently. "Then just make him,"

Orihime chuckled behind her hand, which was covering her mouth, as Ichigo's blush only turned deeper.

"It's not as simple as that!" Ichigo exclaimed. "We… huh… there's a ritual…"

"A ritual?"

"Yes… we… I…" Ichigo took a deep breath. "Your mother and I have to do _something_ first, and nine months later, your little brother will be born,"

A fascinated look grew in Kazui's bright brown eyes.

He sat on the ground, and looked at his father with full attention.

"Tell me more, dad! How are you and mom going to make my little brother?!"

Ichigo _paled_.

He immediately turned to his wife, who was currently having a problem to control her giggles.

"Erm… hm… Orihime?"

"You go, _honey_ ," She said with a little vengeful smirk, patting his back. "I got your back,"

…

End.

-x-

And that's it for today! Hope you guys enjoyed this one, and I'll try to post more soon. Sorry if this didn't turn out like you wanted, **BeautifulFrozenNightmare** , I just couldn't think of a different scenario for this. Thanks for the prompt, I had a lot of fun writing this!


	3. we'll be alright

Hello, everyone! Sorry I didn't post anything yesterday, I just had a lot to do. Also, due to college, I probably won't be able to post new chapters daily, and maybe there'll be some times where I won't post for two or three days, but I will not give up on this fanfic, this I promise you! Now, I hope you all like a little angst, because this chapter is quite filled with it. It's also sort of a canon divergence, since this scene didn't happen in the manga but I wish it did! Hope it's not a disappointment, and you all enjoy it.

 **C.A.M.E.O.1 and Only** , hahaha, thanks for the review, and yes, Ichigo totally had it coming, lol. Kazui really is the cutest thing ever, I just want to hold him like a grandma holds her grandchild, lmao.

 **The Glittery Ninja Espada,** thank you for your review! Oooh, yes, I love sassy Orihime as well. I hope she wasn't out of character, because, you know, there were like two moments in the manga where she was suuuper sassy, and I just loved it! Aww, I'm glad you liked the way I wrote Kazui, and I'm glad you liked Ichigo's reaction as well.

 **Ulquiorra9000** , thank you so much for reviewing! I'm so glad you liked Bleach's ending as well, and it's really sweet to hear/read this from a IchiRuki shipper, I love when we can all appreciate all the pairings and let no ship war get in the way, you're really nice! And I'll be sure to write your request, will probably post it tomorrow or by Monday! Hope I won't let you down. Once again, thanks for the review and for the nice request!

 **BeauifulFrozenNightmare,** yaaaay, I'm so glad you liked the chapter! It means a lot to me. I had a lot of fun writing this, so once again thanks for the request! And thank, thank you so much for enjoying it!

 **Guest,** awww *blushes* thank you!

 **Guest** , haha, thank you! Yeah, you're right, we didn't get to see much of Orihime's sassy side as I would've liked it, but I did enjoy that Kubo showed us that she had a little bit of a sassy side after the Fullbringer arc. I had so much fun writing Ichigo's part, lol. I'm glad you liked it, thanks for the review!

-x-

 **We'll be alright**

" _When is a monster not a monster? Oh, when you love it. […] When you're the reason it has become so mangled_ ". - Caitlyn Siehl

(post The Lust chapters).

…

" _Do I frighten you… woman?"_

" _I'm not afraid. I'm not afraid"._

" _I see"._

She watches as Ulquiorra slowly dissipates in the darkness of the dome. There's a lump in her throat, and she can't quite understand why. He hurt her friends, yes, but she can't bring herself to stop her own feelings. She still wishes she could've helped him.

She hears a footstep behind her, and turns. She holds back a sigh.

Ichigo's standing right behind her, with a look she can't quite describe. He wants to say something, she can tell, but he doesn't know how to say it. So she doesn't force him. Instead, she just takes a deep breath and takes a hesitant step towards him. There's a flash of hurt in his eyes, and she feels her heart burn with guilt.

 _I'm not afraid_ , she wants to say, _I was never afraid of you. I was afraid_ _ **for**_ _you_.

"Please, sit down so I can heal you," it's what comes out instead.

He does what she says. She makes a similar nod to Uryuu so he can do the same; the Quincy sits by the sand as well, but she can tell he's putting a distance between himself and Ichigo. She bites her lip, understanding it. There's enough guilt in their orange-haired friend right now. Uryuu doesn't want to contribute for it.

She kneels down the sand, close to her friends, but not a single word is uttered between them. She calls out for Sõten Kisshun, and the yellow light covers her friends. After that, they're left with the sound of silence.

Orihime tries to hold back her sighs, but her thoughts are not things she can stop.

How could they ever be the same again?

 _Get it together,_ she tells herself, _you need to be strong right now. Collect yourself. They didn't break you._

The reality of everything that happened hits her, and there are tears in her eyes. Suddenly all the bruises in her body hurt more than they did before. Oh, but it doesn't compare to the hurt she feels inside. There is so much she wishes she can forget, but all she can do is forgive.

 _He came here for me._

 _He did it for me._

 _He did it all for me._

And, oh, she loves him. She loves him with all her heart. And she wishes, for once, that that was enough to mend it. Mend him.

But it isn't.

 _He did it all for me, yes,_ she repeats, as if she's finally finding herself again, _but I love him. So I won't let him save me anymore._

"I'm sorry,"

The words cut through the silence sharply. Her eyes rise from the sand, and move towards Ichigo. He's not looking at her, but she knows it was directed to her. She knows it by the way his hands are shaking, and the way he just can't bring himself to look at her. She knows it by the way Uryuu turns his head away, not wanting to be a part of this.

There is so much she wants to say, but it's caught up in her throat. So instead, she watches the man she loves slowly fall apart right before her eyes. His voice invades her ears again.

"I'm _so_ sorry,"

There's so much emotion in his voice; it's shaking, just like his hands.

He doesn't say why he's apologizing, but she knows;

" _Help me, Kurosaki-kun!"_

" _I'll… I will… I will protect you…!"_

She wants to hold him, but her heart fears rejection; she also wants to cry, but her heart can't take it anymore. So she settles by lifting up her hand, passing through her Sõten Kisshun and resting it at the top of Ichigo's orange hair, ruffling it.

This surprises him, she can tell. He hesitantly looks up to her, and she finally allows herself to _smile_. She watches him swallow dryly. His mouth moves, but her voice comes first.

"You saved me," she tells him, as sweetly as her voice allows. "Do you understand me? You _saved_ me," Her hands slides from his hair to his face; his bruised face, so vulnerable right in front of her.

"I became a monster,"

"That wasn't you," it finally comes out. "You were just trying to help me… I'm the one who shouldn't have put you through that… it wasn't your fault. None of what happened,"

She feels like sobbing, but she holds herself back. _Be strong_ , she tells herself, _you owe him that._

"I'm sorry I didn't say that earlier," she whispers, and it almost echoes through the dome. Ichigo's looking at her, and he has that look again… one that shows he wants to say something… but like before, he doesn't say anything. He just sighs, and nods.

It's not enough, she can tell. But it lifts up his spirits, for at least that one moment.

They look at each other, and she knows something has changed. But not negatively, no.

She loves him even more now.

Maybe she shouldn't feel that, but she does. She watched him come back to her, with claws, horns and a hole in his chest; the one thing she feared he would become; and still, he did, and she loved him _anyway_.

"I have to go now," he says, turning to look somewhere else. "The others… they need help,"

 _I'm not done healing you,_ she almost says, but she doesn't.

"Okay," she says.

She stops the Sõten Kisshun so he can get up. He stands before her, and she can finally see what changed.

They're no longer children. None of them. Not after this.

He stands before her, as a _man_.

Any trace of hesitation that lived inside her heart, vanished.

 _We'll be okay_ , she realizes with a sigh of relief, _all of us_. _We'll make it through_.

"Please, finish healing Ishida," he asks her, his voice _so_ polite it almost pains her. "I will finish this… and we'll all go home,"

"Hn," She nods.

So, she watches him leave, but this time there's a fire inside her heart. She can't stop him from getting hurt, but she can be there by his side to heal him whenever he needs her to. Anything. She'll do anything, but she won't be a burden to him anymore.

As she goes back to healing Uryuu, who's looking at her, trying to figure out what's going on inside her, a voice that sounds a lot like her brother's invaded her head.

 _There is no middle ground when you love someone. Either you love them for who they are, or you've never loved them at all._

Her brother was right. Her mind wanders back to Ichigo, and his painful eyes, as the words only made more sense; whether he's a handsome boy with funny scowl and warm eyes, or a hollow with bloodied claws and empty eyes, he's still the man she loves.

 _If there's two sides of Kurosaki-kun, I'll love them both all the same,_ she promises.

End.

-x—

Welp, that's it for today! A little bit of Orihime's POV on how she felt after what happened on the dome. I always wanted a scene like this on the manga where they talk about what happened, but since Kubo didn't write one, I decided to, lol. I hope it's alright, sorry if any of them seem out of character. Sorry if I wrote something wrong, English is not my mother language, so I tend to make some mistakes.

Also, since I wrote Orihime's hand entering her Sõten Kisshun, I figured it wouldn't burn/shock her like it did with Ichigo, since, you know, it's her own technique. At least in my fics, at least these ones, she's immune to it, 'kay? Thanks to everyone who's reading this, see you soon ;)


	4. crush

First of all, I am super sorry for the delay! It's been like 6 months since I last posted something. I am truly sorry, so much shit has been going on in my life, and I also kind of lost my interest in writing for a while (I blame that on my new Fairy Tail obsession, that's made me read like 1k fanfics these past few months). So instead of trying to write daily, which I noticed isn't something for me, this fanfic will be updated once in a while with new one-shots, but no promises of when to post. I'm trying to finish a new fanfic that's 44 chapters long, and I'm stuck on trying to finish it. Regardless of that, my love for IchiHime/Kazui remains super strong, so I'll post something whenever my mind gives me the push to write it; thank you so much to everyone who reviewed, I love you all, and I'm sorry for the long wait. You're still free to send requests, and when I feel like writing, I'll post it, I promise.

PS: This one-shot focuses more on Kazui and Ichika, so it isn't really IchiHime. But they do show up, with a special surprise.

-x-

 **Crush**

(post chapter 686).

…

"Ano… Ichika-chan?"

"What?" the older redhead asked, removing her eyes from the manga she was reading to look at the orange-haired 10 year old in front of her. Ichika arched an eyebrow when she noticed a small blush covering Kazui's cheeks. It wasn't exactly a surprise, since he seemed to blush at the smallest things, but what exactly had happened to make him look so… embarrassed? "Is something wrong?"

Kazui sighed, but his blush only seemed to increase. Could he say it? Should he say it? Would she make fun of him?

"Is… hm…? Er…" This was so embarrassing!

Ichika scowled at his words and gripped his arm, making him jump in his spot (they'd both been sitting on the ground for quite a while now) and widen his eyes at her. She brought her face closer to his.

"What's going on? Ya know I don't like stuttering!" She let go of his arm, and crossed her arms over her chest. "So just suck it up and say it!"

Kazui blinked at her multiple times, before sighing again, closing his eyes and nodding.

"O… okay," he gulped, and the blush in his cheeks increased. Ichika arched another eyebrow, growing impatient. "I was just gonna ask…" yeah, there was no way he could say it directly, he needed to try a different approach. "Is there… hm… a boy you like?"

Ichika widened her eyes, surprised at his question. A boy she liked? Hmm… interesting question. Even though she was 12 years old, she'd never given boys that much of her attention. Most of the time, they were really annoying. And they weren't really interesting.

 _However,_ Ichika gulped as a blush covered her cheeks as well, _there is this_ _ **girl**_ _in the 6_ _th_ _division who has a really pretty smile…_

"Ichika-chan?"

"Eh?!" She jumped at Kazui's voice and found him staring at her again. She growled and turned away, avoiding his look. "No, there's no boys I'm interested in. Why?"

She noticed how Kazui's hopeful face slowly fell to a disappointed one.

"Oh," he giggled, looking away. "Never mind, then…"

Ichika frowned. Why did he look like this? Why so disappoin-

 _Oh!_

Ichika gasped and covered her mouth. Oh, no, now she felt like a horrible person. It made a lot of sense now. How could she not have seen this coming? They'd known each other since he was 5 and she was 7, and they'd been best friends for years now! More than that, they were best friends. But she'd always assumed he thought of her as an older sister… when had that changed?

"H-hey…" great, now she was the one stuttering. Kazui looked at her. "Look, we… huh… we've been friends for a long time, right?" Kazui nodded. "We practically grew up together. I've kicked your ass plenty of times, whenever you acted like a crybaby brat. And we were a-always together. You're my best friend," She blushed. "To be honest, I could say you're my favorite person from this world… but… huh… you're like my brother, Kazui," She looked away from him. "I'm sorry,"

Silence.

After he didn't say anything, Ichika decided to take a look at his face and was surprised to see him smiling, as if she'd just made his day with her words.

"Thank you, Ichika-chan! That means a lot to me!" He gave her a thumbs-up. Great, uncle Sado had rubbed off on him. "You're my best friend too,"

"I'm glad," She smiled shyly. "So nothing has to change, alright? There's no need to start acting weird,"

Now he looked confused.

"Weird? Why would I act weird?"

"IDIOT!" She yelled. How could he be so clueless? "I'm talking about your feelings! Just 'cuz I don't like you like that, it doesn't mean we can't be friends!"

They looked at each other. The orange-haired let his head fall slightly to the side.

"Don't like me like _what_?" And then realization fell to his mind. And he blushed as well. "What exactly do you think I was trying to tell you?"

Ichika gritted her teeth.

"That you… urgh… like me… like-like me,"

Silence again.

Then Kazui laughed.

"Oh, I love you, Ichika-chan," he said, coming to her side and pulling her cheeks, much to her annoyance. "But I don't _like-like_ you, so you don't have to worry about that,"

Ichika sighed with relief at his words, thanking God that she hadn't broke his heart. He was far too young to take well a rejection like this. Then she punched him in the face.

"WHO SAID YOU COULD PULL ON MY CHEEKS?! IDIOT!"

"I'm… I'm sorry," he said, fallen to the ground.

"Anyway," she crossed her arms again, but not before picking up her fallen manga. Great, now she had to search for the page she'd stopped. "Why were you trying to get me to say if I liked a boy? And why did you look so sad when I said I didn't like anyone?"

Cleaning his nose ( _why always on the nose, Ichika-chan?)_ , Kazui sat up on the ground again and then looked over at his house, noticing that his parents and his aunt and uncle Rukia and Renji were heading towards the door.

"It's because I was hoping that you did like someone," he frowned and looked at the ground. "Because then maybe you could help me…"

"Help you?" And then Ichika _smirked._ Ugh, Kazui hated when she smiled like that. "Wait a second… do you like someone?"

And just like that, the blush returned to his cheeks, now stronger than ever.

"NO I DON'T!" he yelled, getting up and pointing at her. "I'M A WARRIOR, I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS!"

"Then what you want me to help you with?"

"WITH AMAYA-CHAN!" He said, crossing his arms. "Ever since yesterday, she's been telling me that we're gonna get be b-b-boyfriend and g-girl… girlfriend when we grow up. And all because of that stupid shoujo movie we watched last week!" He pulled Ichika by her shoulders and shook her. "You have to help me, I need someone to tell her that I don't like her!"

"Eh? Why would me liking someone have anything to do with that?" She pushed him away, so he'd stop shaking her.

"Because then you'd know the difference between liking-liking someone and just liking, so you could tell her it's not the same!"

"I don't think it works like that, Kazui…"

"I'm out of plans, please do it! You don't even have to like someone for real, just pretend that you do!"

"As if I'd do that! And why should I be the one to say it? Be a man and tell her yourself!"

Ichika really didn't want to say something like that to Amaya. She was an adorable girl, with a kind-loving heart, who'd always give Ichika new manga to read. They shared the same love for the same things, and they'd been friends for a long while as well. Not to mention, Amaya was beautiful. She'd gotten her father's raven hair (at least Ichika always assumed that was uncle Uryuu's hair color), her mother's deep blue eyes, which looked even more beautiful with her glasses (which was another thing she'd gotten from her father).

"I can't tell her something like that," Kazui whined. "What if she hates me?"

"She's way too sweet to hate you. Also, you had no problem telling me you didn't like-like me, so why can't you tell her that?"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"… erm…"

"Wait a second there," Ichika started giggling, loving every second of this. "Could it be that maybe you don't wanna tell her you don't like her… because you _actually_ like her?"

"GAAAH, ICHIKA-CHAN, STOP SAYING WEIRD THINGS!"

But it was too late, for Ichika was now rolling and laughing on the floor.

"Th-this is amazing…" She said between her laughs. "Kazui's got himself a little girlfriend!"

Can this get any worse? Kazui wondered.

And yes, it could.

Because his parents chose that exact moment to show up by the door, with aunt Rukia and uncle Renji by their side, all of them looking curiously at the laughing Ichika. Even his little sister, Masaki-chan, who was resting on his father's shoulders, was looking confused.

"What's going on here?" Rukia asked, and then crossed her arms. "Ichika, you're not messing with Kazui again, are you?"

"M-mom…" Ichika ceased her laughing, and cleaned her throat. "You're never going to guess…"

"Oi, Ichika-chan!" Kazui cried.

"Is it a joke? I love Ichika-chan's jokes!" Orihime said, happily, clapping her hands, which was a movement followed by the 4-year old Masaki.

"I don't think she'd be laughing at her own jokes, Orihime," Ichigo said, sweat-dropping.

"But I laugh at my own jokes," Orihime pouted at her husband. "They're funny, right?"

"Of course,"

"What's all the fuss about anyway, Ichika?" Renji asked, standing by his wife's side.

Ichika grinned, running away from Kazui, who was trying to stop her from saying anything.

"Kazui is in love with Amaya-chan!" She said happily, and the words made the younger boy freeze at his place, turning completely white.

"Amaya-chan?" Ichigo said, blinking, and then realizing his bad luck. Great, now Ishida would most likely kill him. Gah, he just couldn't catch a break, could he?

"How adorable," Rukia commented, with a sweet smile. "But don't make fun of him for it, Ichika. It's not right,"

"You used to make fun of me all the time!" Ichigo yelled.

"THAT'S DIFFERENT! YOU WERE A 20 YEAR OLD WHO JUST COULDN'T GROW A PAIR!" Rukia yelled back.

"Grow a pair?" Masaki asked, confused.

Everybody else sweat-dropped.

"Again, what's all the fuss about? Weren't they dating already?" Renji asked.

"Uncle Renji!" Kazui cried.

"Sorry, kiddo," Renji laughed.

"Oh? Amaya-chan, huh? Is that true, Kazui?" Orihime finally spoke, looking at her son.

Kazui looked back at his mother, and felt the blush increasing in his cheeks. Oh, no, now the last person he wanted to find out, knew. He felt at the point of the tears.

"NO, IT'S NOT!" He threw himself at his mother, holding her waist and rubbing his face on her stomach. "MOM, YOU'RE THE ONLY WOMAN I'LL EVER LOVE! I'LL MARRY YOU!"

"My, my…" Orihime laughed, rubbing her son's orange hair.

"Nice try, punk. She's already my wife," Ichigo pointed out.

"But she loves me more," Kazui pouted.

"I kn… WAIT, WHAT?!"

…

End.

-x-

I honestly don't know what I just wrote, I just had a dream about this and decided to write it down. For those wondering, Amaya is Uryuu and an OC's daughter. If you're wondering what she kind of looks like, google 'Nao Yorihime', that's who I based Amaya's character on. I just think Uryuu should have a family of his own as well, just because we didn't see them in the last chapter, doesn't mean they can't exist. Well, see you guys next time, whenever I have something ready to post. Xoxo, I hope you like it and if you could review something positive (I really need positivity in my like rn) that'd be great.


	5. changes

And here I am, with a new update! Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed, I'm very happy that you're enjoying my one-shots. Since today's been one year since Bleach ended, AND it's also IchiHime week, I decided to write something for them. I've been obsessed with how their relationship used to be pre-Bleach, and I really like writing from Ichigo's point of view, so here's a little something. I hope you guys like it, and if you do, a review would make me very happy. Once again, thank you. If I get something wrong, please forgive me, it's been a while since I've re-read the Bleach manga.

 **PS** : I'm sorry if the one-shot feels a bit rushed, but it was getting too long, so I just added some mentions of the arcs. I wanted the focus to be on Ichigo's feelings. Also, Orihime doesn't know about Masaki's death at first, so when she mentions Ichigo's pain, it's because she's noticed something

-x-

 **Changes**

(sets before the first chapter of Bleach, then explores a bit of the first three arcs).

The first time Ichigo sees her, it's a rainy morning. She's at his door, with a bleeding man on her back, and her eyes are red from crying; he lets her in, and his father helps her out. Just as his father leaves to tend the man she calls 'brother', Ichigo's left to tend her. And he doesn't know quite what to do.

She's shaking, and she's soaking wet; he can't tell which was tears and which was raindrops. He looks over to the side, and catches his young sisters, barely awake, watching the girl with a pained look, probably trying to figure out what's going on. With a sigh, he does the only thing he can, and it is to pick up a towel and hand it to her. Probably not in the most sensible way, but who could blame him? He isn't the best at dealing with girls crying their hearts out.

"He's all I have left," she cries, and it's like a shock to his body. He looks right into her face, and sees that she's staring at the ground. "H-he's my only family… I c… can't lose him, I can't… I can't…" the rest of the words become lost in a series of sobs, as she leans forward, gripping at the towel given to her.

A new emotion takes over Ichigo, and it's one he hasn't felt in a few years. Sympathy. Memories of blood splattered all over him, as his whole world crumbled down to pieces when he found his mother dead, on top of him, seep into his brain and make it impossible for him to breathe, for a second. There's a flash of light, and all the screams he'd let out that night come back and start to give him a headache.

He doesn't know this girl, but he hopes that she doesn't have to go through what he did. Losing a brother isn't the same as losing a brother, but in the end, family is family and it hurts all the same.

She keeps talking and talking, and there are two blue hairpins inside her left hand, and she's holding onto them for dear life. She says something about her brother giving it to her, she promises to wear them every day of her life… Ichigo never replies to any of what she says, but he listens.

And maybe that's what the girl needed at the moment.

It isn't until her whole world falls apart, and her brother leaves this world before he can even get to the hospital, that Ichigo starts to really _see_ her. She's resting on the couch, tears still fresh in her face; her hair is short and brown, and as the sunlight through the windows bathed her, he notices it could easily be confused as orange, almost like his. Not that he's been watching her. Of course not, why would he watch a stranger? He's eating his breakfast, and she's just _there_.

She's still crying, so it takes him a while to notice, but through the reddish color, her eyes were a hazel tone of brown. She was a little pale, probably due to all the crying and shaking, but just as her eyes flew through the room and met his, his father was right in front of her, saying words of comfort and muttering apologies. She doesn't say much, she only nods, and thanks him for trying to help.

He leaves for school before he's able to hear out her name, and decides that he shouldn't care. She's just a stranger whom he felt sympathy for, and he shouldn't really think about her all that much. She'll be gone by the time he comes back home, and he'll never see her again.

The second time Ichigo meets her, she's this cheery girl who hangs out with Tatsuki, and he knows he's seen her before, but can't quite recall where or when. It takes him a few days to figure it out, until he finally remembers; Tatsuki doesn't even have to tell him. She's the girl from that early morning, the girl whose brother died at his father's clinic. He finally takes notice to the blue hairpins in both sides of her bangs, and wonders why it took him so long to figure it out. Her hair was definitely longer, so maybe that was it; she had grown, and developed… erm… womanly shapes, so maybe that was it. But it wasn't any of those things, he realizes.

She was _smiling_.

And it wasn't a forced smile, nor a smirk. Her eyes were bright, and full of life, and her mouth wide open, and her cheeks flushed as she giggled, and moved around with happiness.

And that pisses him off.

 _How can she smile after everything?,_ he asks himself. _I was there. I saw how broken she was. How can she be well after that? Didn't she say her brother was the only family she had left? Doesn't she feel guilty for being happy? How can she do that?_

 _And why can't I be like that?,_ is the question that a deep, deep part of his heart asks, and he ignores and completely erases from his mind.

Ichigo decides, then, that the girl was crazy. Nobody could smile like that after losing someone they loved. It just wasn't right.

"Oi, Ichigo," Tatsuki asks him, one day.

"Hn?"

"Have you seen Orihime? It's lunch time, and she hasn't shown up yet,"

Ichigo shakes his head negatively and turns back to his lunch box.

"Well, asshole, could you be nice for once and please go find her for me? That girl's a danger to herself," Tatsuki sighs, resting against the chair.

"What am I, your slave?" Ichigo retorts. "She's your friend, isn't she? Go find her yourself,"

Ichigo doesn't care what anybody else says. He did not deserve that kick to the stomach.

Deciding then that he preferred to be in a place with less people, he leaves the table and decides to just eat by the rooftop. Surely no one will be there. Keigo and the others can eat by themselves, he's not in the mood to deal with people's shit this day.

So when he opens the door to the rooftop, it's indeed quiet and _lonely_ , but he isn't alone. Right ahead of him, there's a girl standing against the bars of the rooftop, eyes fixated on the view. It's Inoue.

Man, he just can't catch a break, can he?

"Oi, Inoue!" He calls out, determined to have some time to eat alone. "Tatsuki's been looking for you, so you probably should…"

It's quick, but in his eyes, it happens like slow motion.

She turns around at the sound of his voice, and there's a tear falling from her left eye, dropping to the ground in a soft noise. They look at each other for what it seems like minutes, but it's just over 4 seconds, realistically speaking. Ichigo's words get lost in his throat, and his jaw slowly drops at the sight.

 _But… but she…_

As if she only now noticed she'd been caught, Inoue starts blushing and wipes her eyes, trying to erase the teardrops and any evidence that she'd been crying. But it's too late; Ichigo's seen it.

And for some reason he doesn't even recognize, he begins blushing as well.

"K-k-k-Kurosaki-kun!" She exclaims, and starts waving her arms. "I'm so very sorry, I-I had no idea somebody else would come by here! If I had known, I… I…" She rubs her head, awkwardly. "Well, I… I'm sorry,"

 _She was crying._

"Y-you probably want to be by yourself, right?" She starts moving towards the exit. "T-Tatsuki-chan, you said? Looking for me? Hmmm, I should probably go to her… s-sorry, again, I…"

 _She still cries._

"A-ano… K… Kurosaki… kun?"

Ichigo hadn't even realized, but before she could leave, he had gripped her arm. She's right behind him, her cheeks a bright red, and visibly sweating.

"You… still carry around the pain…. Don't you?" He asks, before he can stop himself.

 _Why would you ask that? Now she probably will think you're some kind of freak, if she doesn't already. Great. Just great. She probably doesn't even remember me._

Hesitatingly, he moves his head to the side and looks through his bangs to the girl whose arm he's still holding onto. There's a wave of confusion in her brown eyes, that slowly slips away and turns into understanding, as she frowns and her body relaxes at his touch.

"F-Forget I asked!" Ichigo yells out, letting go of her arm, turning his back completely to her, hating himself every second of it. "I… I didn't mean to…"

"The pain doesn't really go away, you know?" She says all of a sudden, surprising him. Before he can make out any words, she continues. "You just learn to live with it,"

His mouth moves, and his hands are now shaking, but he still can't bring himself to say anything.

"I…"

"It's hard. I miss Sora Onii-chan so much, it hurts sometimes, so I cry," He's not looking at her, but he can tell she's probably smiling, softly and gently at his back. "But Onii-chan doesn't get to live… and he doesn't get to smile anymore… so I'll do both… for him,".

None of them say anything for the next few minutes. Ichigo still hasn't turned to look at her, but a little, bitter smile has grown in his lips.

"Live for the dead, huh?" He whispers, more to himself than to her, and looks over at the bright sun. "It makes sense, I suppose,"

"I… I'm not swaying… I mean, _saying_ , t-that everyone should do this, it's just…" She takes a few steps back. "It's just how I live…"

Ichigo finally turns around to her, the little smirk still in the corner of his lips.

"I know," He looks right into her brown eyes. "That's very wise, Inoue,".

If he thought she couldn't possibly blush any harder, she has just proven him wrong and surprised him, once again.

"Erhm… I… hm…" She turns to the exit. "Hm… t-thank you?"

Ichigo only scoffs, and turns his back to her again.

"B-but… hm… you-you know…" he hears her voice, and arches an eyebrow. "It's okay to smile… just as it's okay to cry… I hope you know…"

When Ichigo turns to her, she's still blushing, but she lets out a small giggle before she leaves.

"Kurosaki-kun says a lot when he doesn't say much," with those words, she is gone, and Ichigo is staring at the open door of the rooftop, the wind flowing through his orange locks, and he's still in shock.

Ichigo decides then that, this Inoue girl, is definitely still a bit crazy. But surprisingly amazing, nonetheless.

 _I guess she does remember me, after all._

Things take an interesting turn from there on. He and Inoue, they don't become friends, at least not at first. But once in a while, they talk to each other, and it's no longer all that awkward. Sometimes, Ichigo even finds himself looking forward to seeing her, especially after she starts greeting him in class, at morning. She looks genuinely happy to see him, every time, and somewhere in his heart, that makes him feel safe.

Then Rukia comes along, and all the shit of being a Shinigami. He has powers now. In a way, he's always been different, seeing ghosts and all, but this time he's been given the power to protect. So protect, he tries. His family, his friends. He wants everyone to be safe, so he protects Inoue as well. She's Tatsuki's best friend, and a kind girl who didn't deserve to go through horrible times again. So why wouldn't he?

But time goes by, and things change. He doesn't notices these changes until after his fight with Byakuya. When she's crying for him, claiming she'd been worrying about him, there's a swell in his chest and his eyes are softening before he can stop himself. He even forgets that there are people, a.k.a. friends who will probably make fun of him for this later, watching them.

When had things changed? When had they started talking easily like this? She didn't even stutter in front of him anymore. She's crying for him. She's been thinking about his safety.

Ichigo notices that somewhere along the way, Inoue stopped being Tatsuki's best friend, and became someone he was quite fond of. Someone he wanted to protect, not because of what she means to others… but because of what she means to him.

"Thank you… Inoue," the words leave his mouth in a soft tone, which he isn't even sure how he was able to produce. When was the last time he'd spoken to someone like this?

But she smiles at him, with tears still shining in her eyes, and a soft blush on her cheekbones.

He's on the ground, finally being able to rest, but seeing her smile, for some reason, gives him the impression that he's falling.

Ichigo decides then that, from now on, Inoue's a friend.

But apparently, life isn't done surprising him, and things continue to change through times. He's been dealing with a lot of shitty stuff; an evil version of him that was trying to take over? All he needed. He's not even been able to fight properly. He's got his ass handed to him over three times now. His friends got hurt because he wasn't able to save them. _Inoue_ got hurt, and he wasn't able to protect her. That thought haunts him for days, and continues to do so, even after Rukia comes back, and even after he looks into Inoue's eyes and promises to protect her.

For some reason, he's been thinking a lot about her lately, Inoue. She's become a part of his life, and she's practically in everything he does; she's at school, she talks to him, she sits next to him, and one of these days, she even gave him her notes when he fell asleep in class. They've been getting closer, which only makes it that much harder when he failed to protect her, and watched her get tossed around and bleed. He doesn't ever want to see her hurt like that again. Maybe it'd be for the best if she had never become his friend at all, he thinks one day, maybe it would've been better if she'd just continued to be Tatsuki's friend and he continued to be the grumpy guy who scared people away. So he tries to keep his distance. He goes training, with people he knows very little of, and decides to put away any thoughts he's been having about her on hold, and focuses on punches and dodging swords and controlling his Hollow.

The next time he sees Inoue, she is there to warn him about Aizen and what he plans to do. The last thing he tells her is to not worry, because he is getting stronger, and he will defeat Aizen. It's the last he's seen from her for days, also. A month, actually. Hasn't heard from her either. But he is okay with that. He is okay with that. He is…

There's a slight ache in his heart, and he clenches his fist.

Ichigo decides then that Inoue's not just his friend. She's _special_. She's something else.

And that thought really scares him, so he tries to push it away and focus on his training. Defeating monsters comes first, after all.

When the next time comes, and Ichigo _doesn't_ see her, he knows something is not right. _She's probably dead_ , Ukitake dares to say. How can these people throw words such as death and kidnapping when they didn't know a damn thing? It pisses him off. The thought of never seeing her again is unacceptable. It can't be. It can't. She healed him! He knows it was her! These people don't know anything.

He's ready to fight this time. He's gotten stronger, maybe not strong as he should be, but it doesn't matter. He will bring Inoue back, no matter what happens. Rukia was different, Soul Society was her home, so it didn't make him sad when she said she wanted to stay there; maybe he'd miss having her around, but it was still her decision, her right. But Inoue… she belongs _here,_ with them, in this world that was probably too dirty for her kind soul. He'd be damned if anyone tries to take her away from her home.

So he goes to Hueco Mundo, and fights; he gives the best of himself, and it almost isn't enough. It almost gets him killed. But he wakes up, surrounded by a bright light, and Inoue's right there, in front of him. For a moment, he thinks he's dreaming or that maybe he's dead… but she _is_ real. She is there. She's finally with him. She is okay. She is _alive_.

It's not easy to free her from the Arrancars, though; Ulquiorra's strong enough to almost kill him, and Grimmjow's a piece of work. He hates himself for pulling that stupid mask, and scaring her. She can't even look at him, so he doesn't force her to. He doesn't want to see her afraid of him. All he can do is try to finish his fight with Grimmjow as soon as possible, so she doesn't have to be afraid anymore.

His mask is breaking. He's almost losing. Can he actually pull through this and win?

"DON'T DIE, KUROSAKI-KUN!"

His ears can't believe what he's hearing, so he turns to the voice that calls out to him. She's right there, way above him, with a white light around her that makes her look like an angel. Tears fall from her eyes, as she looks at him.

"You don't have to win…" she sobs. "You don't have to keep trying… just, please, don't hurt yourself any more than this,".

Something changes inside of him. The lack of confidence seems like a lost memory now. He knows now that he'll win this fight; for her sake. She asks him to not get hurt anymore, so he'll try his best not to. He owes her that much. She has no idea of what she has just given him.

When the fight is over, he flies up to where she stands. She's holding herself, with an uncertain look in her face. She's been through hell, but she still looks like an angel to him. An angel who's only had tragedy and problems thrown at her, but kept her smile through everything. He envies her for that, but for the very same reason, she's made her way into his heart.

So he wipes the blood off of his chin and looks up to her, returning her the smile she'd always given him, even when he didn't deserve it.

"Are you okay, Inoue?"

He's in too deep, he realizes, and it's probably too late to stop now. He's completely coming undone in front of her, finally allowing himself to look at her openly, with his features relaxed like he's never allowed himself to be.

 _I want her,_ Ichigo realizes. _I want to win this war, protect everyone and defeat Aizen, of course, but I also want her. I want to be the one who'll protect her. I want to be the person who she'll give all of her smiles to, and the person who'll comfort her when she cries._

She deserves better, he knows. She doesn't even feel the same way, _he knows._ But at the moment, Inoue's smiling at him, like she hasn't in days, and Ichigo just knows everything will turn out alright.

He decides, then, that Inoue Orihime, the girl who'd come into his house that casual rainy day and who had found her way into his life and into his heart, is more than any label he could ever try to give her. She is just Inoue, and he is in love with her.

…

END.

-X-

Welp, that was long. Sorry for any mistakes in writing, English is not my mother language. Once again, sorry for rushing the arcs, I just really wanted to keep the focus on Ichigo's feelings and less on what was going on. But if you think about it, that's just how love is, right? Sometimes it happens all of a sudden, sometimes it takes months or years to blossom. Personally, I don't believe in love at first sight, but I do believe that love grows through time, if you just give yourself the chance to love. Thanks to everyone who reads it, and if you liked it, please review.


	6. act I: the introduction

Hey, guys! I'm back with another one-shot… that is actually a three-part shot this time. I'm taking a chance and writing a "How IchiHime got together" which is very unusual and has a lot of plot outside of romance, but IchiHime always has been that kind of ship that go through some crazy shit together, and when it's over, they're overwhelmed by their feelings for one another (ex: the Grimmjow fight). So, here's my attempt, hopefully you guys enjoy it. You don't have to consider it as canon, it's just a silly idea. It's divided in three acts.

Act I – The Introduction

Act II – The Happening

Act III – The Conclusion

And so I present to you the first part. Please, leave a review if you like the story! Sorry it there are grammar errors and if some sentences sound weird, English is not my Mother language, but I did my best.

-x-

 **Act I: the introduction**

(sets after we do knot always love you, but before chapter 685)

" _Next time, could you make some time for me?"._

" _O… Of course I will, Kurosaki-kun!"_

If only that had been as easy as it had sounded.

Not that Ichigo blamed Orihime for this. She was too busy with her work, had been working non-stop for the past two weeks (one of her co-workers had just had a baby and the store had one less working hand), and he also constantly got caught up in college. But even so, it was frustrating. Renji's words kept eating his brain, and his heart too, was starting to hurt with longing.

Ichigo had always been bad at expressing his feelings. Not even just his romantic feelings; he often found himself embarrassed at showing affection to most of his friends (mostly because most of them were jerks who loved making fun of him), so this was a huge step for him. This could possibly finally end his 5 years of pining! If only fate allowed him…

Ichigo sighed, and unconsciously kicked his own desk, changing the book's page and trying, without success, to focus on his homework.

Three times, he had tried to tell her how he felt.

Three times, he had failed.

The first time, it was his own fault. He got bottled up in his very own words and instead of telling her how he felt, he blurted out things like "This juice is great, don't you think?" and just completely made a fool of himself. Thankfully, the object of his affections was Orihime, and she only sweetly smiled at and agreed with him, as they enjoyed their lunch, in a brief break from her work and his college.

The second time, it was (kinda) her fault, but not really. He should've explained himself better. He had finally created enough gut to look her in the eyes, his face blazing red, and asked her to watch a movie with him that weekend, at his place. She had blushed slightly, and then had smiled brightly, saying she would look forward to it. He had went home smiling like an idiot, and didn't stop even when his father received him at the door with a flying kick to his stomach. Then, in said day, after he'd spent the whole night awake preparing himself for what he would say, she showed up at his house with Uryuu and Chad behind her, all three of them carrying snacks, popcorn and drinks.

And then there was the third time, in which the fault laid with neither of them, but with destiny itself. They were having lunch together again, and Ichigo was even holding her hand, building up the courage to finally say what had been growing for so long inside of him. Then a Hollow (a big one) invaded the town, and the very own restaurant they were having lunch at.

After all the times he had saved the world, you'd think fate would be a little kinder to him, right?

Ichigo grunted again, finally giving up on reading and closing the book.

 _Maybe it just isn't meant to be… maybe it's better if I just keep burying those feelings and just be her friend anyway…_

Then a little annoying voice called him out, in his head:

" _You're in love with her, right?"_

" _You shouldn't keep such a nice girl waiting too long."_

Damn Renji. What right did he have to say these things?! That red monkey had been pining for Rukia for years and just because they got married recently, somehow that meant he was the expert on relationships?! The nerve…

And the thing is, Ichigo had been prepared to always just be Orihime's friend. He was happy with that, had accepted that a long time ago. Sure, there was a moment of weakness in him, just about when he figured out his own feelings, when he completely let his guard down with her after his fight with Grimmjow; for that moment, he was so sure they shared the same feeling for one another. But then, with everything else that came later, he was just reminded how unworthy of Orihime's love he was. She deserved better. Deserved to be with someone kind and normal, and those were two things he wasn't and probably never would be. So he'd decided, during the 17 months without his powers: he would be her friend and nothing more. He was so sure he was good at hiding it, his feelings, that he actually thought he could go through with it.

And then he found out he wasn't able to fool anyone at all.

Renji was the first to call him out. One day later, Rukia told him she also knew and that he should "go for it". After the 2nd failed attempt of confessing his feelings, he found out Uryuu and Chad also knew.

The only person who seemed oblivious to his feelings was Orihime herself.

The worst of all was that Renji was actually right.

It was starting to hurt, not being with her. They started to spend so much time together, after the war, that when they had graduated and went separate ways, he felt as if a part of his life had been ripped away. He was used to seeing her every day; now he got lucky if he saw her during the week.

So he needed to do this. He owed himself the chance to test his feelings; even if she rejected him, he had to try. She was worth it. She was the only girl who was worth it.

With that in mind, he typed the message and sent it to her.

" _You still up for lunch tomorrow?"_

It was Saturday. During the Saturdays, she only worked during the morning. Which gave him the rest of the day to pluck up the courage to tell her. He could only hope the world would give him a break and allow him.

" _Of course! I'll be seeing you there : D!"_

A smile grew in his lips.

This time, he would definitely do this.

He would confess his feelings.

-x-

 _The universe fucking hates me._

Ichigo sipped his milkshake, looking at the empty chair ahead of him.

45 minutes late.

She'd never done this before.

Even when she was busy, she always came in the right time, even if that meant she had to leave earlier. And whenever she would be late or couldn't make it, she would let him know.

So, why wasn't she there?

Ichigo gulped and felt his fingers itching. What if something had happened? She wasn't the kind of person to stand someone up, so she must've had her reasons, right? Maybe she couldn't leave work today? Or maybe she'd lost track of time? Something must've happened.

"Anything else, sir?" the waitress asked.

"No, thanks," he finished his milkshake and dropped the money on the table, getting up. "You can keep the change."

He didn't wait for an answer, just grabbed his things and left. While he walked, he closed his eyes and focused on her reiatsu. Surprisingly, it indicated she was no longer at work. It indicated that she was at home, and…

Ichigo widened his eyes.

She wasn't alone.

It was much weaker than her reiatsu, but he could definitely detect it. There was someone else in there.

That was enough to make him nervous and he sped up his steps, making his way to her apartment. It wasn't too far away, so he'd be able to get there quickly. He thought about turning into shinigami to make it quicker, but there'd be nowhere to dump his body.

His throat was itchy and he was starting to sweat. Whoever Orihime was with, her reiatsu was slightly agitated, and in a very negative way. This wasn't good. It couldn't have been a friend of hers, otherwise her reiatsu would be normal. This instantly reminded him of her encounter with Tsukishima a few years ago.

" _Please, be okay, Inoue,"_ he begged in his thoughts.

When he finally arrived in the streets of her apartment, he started running towards the place she lived. He practically jumped through the stairs and ran towards her apartment. Before he could even knock on the door, he recognized Orihime's voice through it. She seemed angry. There was another voice speaking back to her.

"Inoue!" He yelled, knocking on the door.

The voices stopped, and Ichigo swallowed dryly. What the heck was going on?

He was about to knock again, when the door was opened, and Orihime showed up right behind it.

"Ku… Kurosaki-kun?" She asked. Her eyes were wide, and filled with something he couldn't quite identify.

"Is everything okay?!" He blurted out, checking her out. She seemed fine, with not one single bruise in her body. He entered her house, walking past her. "I heard yelling and I thought…!"

Ichigo stopped in his tracks.

The someone else in question he'd been sensing was standing up, arms crossed and looking agitated as well.

It was a woman.

Not just a woman, a woman that resembled Orihime so much it was haunting. The hair looked the same color, but it was shorter, and the woman looked older and wore a dark red lipstick (which was completely unlike Orihime). Their body figure was similar as well, with the older woman being obviously more developed and the clothes she wore didn't exactly hide her curves. Her eyes, however, were a different story. Instead of being brown, they were a light color of green; what surprised Ichigo the most was how filled with pain they seemed.

"Huh? Who… who is…?" He turned to Orihime, not understanding _at all_ what was going on.

"It appears you should introduce me to your friend," the woman said. Her voice didn't sound at all like Orihime's. It sounded colder and much, much more tired.

"There'll be no need for that," Orihime replied, surprising Ichigo with how much indifference there was in her voice. "You were just leaving, right?"

The older woman sighed and looked down, uncrossing her arms and nodding.

"If that's what you want…" She whispered.

"It _is_ ," Orihime reaffirmed. Ichigo tried to look at her, looking for a clue to what was happening, but there was a dark shadow covering her eyes and he couldn't see through her, not at that moment.

The woman grabbed a purse and another huge bag, which looked heavy, and walked past him, until she came to the door's exit, turning to Orihime.

"My hotel number is over there. You know where to find me… if you decide you want to talk," the woman said, opening a sad smile.

Orihime simply closed the door.

Ichigo gulped. He'd never seen her act like this with anyone, ever, in all the years he'd known her. Hell, she'd showed compassion even to their enemies, such as Ulquiorra, and those stupid girls who'd physically assaulted her at Hueco Mundo. So why was this woman so different?

"I'm sorry you had to see that," she said, turning to him. He felt his heart breaking when she finally looked up to him. Her eyes, too, were filled with pain and tears.

"It's… hm… it's okay… Inoue," he took one hesitant step closer to her. "I'm the one who's sorry! For barging into your house like this, you know? I… hm… I thought you might be in trouble,"

She looked confused for a moment, until she gasped and covered her mouth.

"We were going to have lunch, right?" she sniffled and he was instantly afraid she might start crying. "I'm… I'm so sorry," she bowed her head, resting her back into the door. "I was getting ready to go meet with you, but then…" she looked at the side, closing her hand into a fist.

Ichigo approached her and rested his hand on her shoulder.

"It's fine, Inoue. I knew you had your reasons," he smiled at her, in an attempt to make her feel better, but he knew her mood had very little to do with her missing their lunch. "You, huh… you wanna talk about it?"

"I don't wanna bother you," she whispered.

Ichigo's smile fell into a scowl.

Without a warning, he raised his hands and pulled both of her cheeks.

"Autch!" she exclaimed.

"We've already talked about this!" He reprehended her, not letting go. He didn't like being rough with her, but they'd been friends for years now! It was about time she understood. "You can rely on me! Isn't that what friends are for?!"

She widened her eyes, and this time, there were definitely tears threatening to fall from them. Ichigo was just letting go of her face when, without warning, she rested her left cheek against the palm of his hand.

" _Control yourself!"_ he mentally yelled at himself when he felt his face burning. He needed to focus on her emotional being right now, and not on the fact that her skin felt so nice against his.

She covered his hands with hers and removed them from her face, much to his disappointment.

"I know. I'm sorry, Kurosaki-kun,"

"Stop apologizing. Just… you know… let me help you,"

She smiled up at him. It wasn't a smile that reached her ears, like the ones she'd usually give him, but it wasn't a fake smile, so it was a start.

She motioned for the couch and both walked towards it. She sat on the yellow one, and patted the seat next to her for him to sit. Gulping (honestly, he really needed to get a hold of himself), he did as she told him to and sat down.

Orihime sighed. It was cold that day, so he could see her breath forming in the air.

"That woman you just saw with me, the reason I wasn't able to show up today…" He paid attention to her eyes and saw them turning to her brother's picture, a few meters away from them. Ichigo felt himself smiling when he saw Sora's picture. The siblings didn't look much like each other, but their smiles were definitely similar. "Was my mother,"

Ichigo widened his eyes.

"What?!"

Well, that would explain why they'd looked so alike. But even so, hadn't Sora ran away with Orihime all those years ago because their parents were abusive? Because they had actually been a threat to her life?

"Why… what did she want with you?" He asked. "Why come after you now, after all these years?"

"That's what I asked her," Orihime embraced herself, as if trying to find some comfort, or maybe it was just the cold. "She said my father died a few years ago, but it wasn't until recently that she decided to move on with her life. She found me through Meiko-san,"

"Your aunt?"

"Yup. Said she wanted to start over, have a clean life. Said she couldn't do that without coming to see me. She said she wanted to get to know me, wanted a chance to be the mother she never was," her eyes had become distant, her mind probably somewhere else in the memories of her past.

Ichigo opened his mouth to ask what had been her answer, but concluding from what he'd heard and seen, he could guess it hadn't been what her mother had hoped for.

"She kept insisting, and we just ended up arguing,".

"I see," was all he said.

"What else could I do other than send her away?" She asked, but he wasn't sure she really wanted an answer. "She was the woman who hurt Onii-chan! He took me away from there so she and my father wouldn't hurt me anymore, to protect me! By letting her stay, or giving her a chance, wouldn't I be doing the opposite of what he wanted?!"

The tears she'd been holding had finally began to fall, and her body began to shake. Before Ichigo could stop himself, his hand had moved on its own and it rested comfortably on Orihime's back, rubbing it in an attempt to comfort her.

"I'm… I'm not gonna tell you what you should or shouldn't do," he said, his voice filling in the silence through her apartment. "I'm not going to judge whether you were right or wrong in sending her away, either. But… you knew your brother better than anyone else. You were the most important person in the world to him," she looked at him while he spoke, through the strands of hair that covered her face. "So… don't you think he would be the kind of guy to support you, despite of what you wanted to do?"

Orihime blinked. She looked for the words, but they wouldn't come out.

"He raised you to be your own person, right? He wouldn't judge you for making your own decisions. That's what I think, at least," he removed the strands of her that were on her eyes, with his free hand, looking at her tear-stained face. "Don't let the memory of your brother as a hollow be how you remember him as. Remember him for who he actually was. Although I'm not sure either version would be very happy with your decision to hang out with me," he joked in the last sentence. Though, honestly, the words Sora, as a hollow, had yelled at him, many years ago, still came back to haunt him sometimes.

Orihime's frown slightly disappeared and she giggled, which caused Ichigo's body to finally relax.

"Don't say that. Onii-chan would've liked you."

"You really think so?"

"Yeah. Because Onii-chan only wanted me to be happy, and Kurosaki-kun makes me happy!" she smiled at him dearly, with a blush in her features.

 _Well, fuck._

Ichigo removed his hand from her back at the same moment, and looked at the opposite side of her so she wouldn't see just how red his face was.

"I-I-is that s-so?"

"Hmhm," even though, he wasn't looking at her, he could tell she was nodding.

"W-well, then…" _Get a hold of yourself, Kurosaki_! "Doesn't that c-confirm what I just said?"

"It does," he heard her sighing, and when he finally looked at her, she was already looking away from him. "Kurosaki-kun is right. Even so, I think it's for the best if I keep my distance from her."

Ichigo nodded.

"Whatever you think it's best, Inoue."

He really would need to find a way to deal with himself if she kept looking at him like that the rest of the day.

"So, you… you wanna go out and eat something now? With all that's happened, you probably didn't eat anything, right?"

"Hehe, it's true," she got up, hands clasped behind her. "I got so distracted with everything I even forgot to eat today,"

"Eh? Today? You mean you haven't eaten anything at all today?!"

"I didn't have time to eat breakfast because I woke up very late today," she explained herself, eyes closed and rubbing her head, like a child who's just been caught doing something bad. "And then the stuff with Erina-san…"

"Who?"

"My mother,"

"Ah," Ichigo ran his hand through his hair. "Well, I didn't really eat anything either. Just a cup of milkshake."

"You should've!" she complained, blushing again. "You didn't have to wait for me!"

"I wanted to," he said, softly. "Plus, I was just too worried. Food was the last thing on my mind."

"Even so…" was it just him or was her face getting redder?

"Don't get worked up over this. We still have time. Let's go eat now. Maybe a walk will help you feel better," he suggested.

She smiled.

"Okay,"

And so they did have lunch, and they even talked some more about what had happened. He encouraged her to tell Tatsuki, and her other friends as well, such as Chad and Uryuu. But, even though he had the chance, not once he brought up his feelings.

He couldn't do this to her.

She didn't need him to be someone in love with her now, even though he was and he had been for so long. He couldn't push his feelings onto her, not when she was going through this. He could think about himself later.

Right now, she needed him as a friend, so that's all he would be.

-x-

Later that night, when he was trying, again, to study for his upcoming tests, he heard a knock on his door. Before he could even answer, the door opened and Karin's black hair peaked through.

"Ichi-nii?"

"What is it?" He asked, mildly annoyed.

"There's someone here asking for you."

He arched his eyebrows. He didn't remember inviting anyone over that night.

"Well, who is it?"

"I don't know." Karin shrugged. "It's a woman, but I've never seen her before."

"Well, isn't that explanatory," Ichigo grunted, and got up. Although that was very confusing. Who could it be? The only girls outside of his sisters he was close to were Rukia, Orihime and Tatsuki. He didn't remember befriending any particular girl in college. He wasn't close to any of his teachers.

By the time he got to front door, just as he opened his mouth to speak and ask what was going on, he stopped in shock.

"Hello. You're Ichigo Kurosaki, right?" the woman in question asked.

His mouth opened and closed like a fish's, and he didn't know quite what to say.

"We met briefly today, but we weren't introduced,"

" _Erina-san."_

" _Who?"_

" _My mother,"_

"I was hoping we could talk," Orihime's mother said, opening a hesitant smile. "It's about my daughter."

TO BE CONTINUED…

-x-

End of part 1. Just let you guys know, part 2 is like 20+ pages long so far, so if you guys want me to shorten it, please let me know in the reviews. I'll post it as soon as I'm done writing at least half of part 3. Also, since I have no idea what Orihime's mother name is or what she looks like, I let my imagination take care of this for me.


	7. act II: the happening

Hello, everyone! Thank you for your encouraging reviews, and for your kind words. I'm sorry for the long delay, I just haven't had time to finish writing part 3 yet, but that one I promise will be posted the moment I finish and edit it. Also, I would like to apologize in advance if it sucks, because I really haven't written in a LONG time, so it's possible I've lost my touch, lol. But really, I kind of love and hate this chapter, and it's really big, so much happens so it might feel rushed, but I had to break it down into 3 parts only, so a lot had to be squeezed in this chapter.

If any of you have any doubts, please let me know in your review and I'll try answering it through PM or when I post the next chapter. Also, I tried my best to keep this in character and the relationships faithful to how they were in the novel WDKAL, and if IchiHime seem to be a bit too comfortable with one another it's because I view them being more open to each other now that they're adults, and hey, she was sitting on his bed during the last arc, so I'm sure some touching and hugging isn't that much of a big deal anymore. But most of all, sorry for any grammar mistakes or if any of the sentences sound weird, English isn't my mother language, so if I mess up it's bc of that.

Now, onto the chapter!

 **PS** : there are a few moments there, which mention certain events that happened during the timeskip, and I hint at those particular moments through thoughts and lines of the characters, so if there's anything you would like for me to expand in a different chapter, please let me know.

-x-

 **Act II: the happening**

"How did you find my house?" Ichigo asked, not even attempting to hide just how freaked out he was. "As a matter of fact, how did you even know who I was?! I don't remember telling you my name!"

"I only heard your last name, so I asked around. Heard about the Kurosaki Clinic," She explained herself. "It's kinda cold out here. Do you mind if I come in?"

Instead of responding to her, Ichigo walked towards her, and closed the door behind him.

"Guess that's a no then," Erina said, bitterly.

"I don't know you, so I have no reason to let you in my house," he talked back. "And I don't have any reason to be nice to someone Inoue doesn't see as trustworthy."

"Fair point," she shrugged. "Even so, I would… like to ask you for your help."

"My help?!"

"Yes. You're Orihime's boyfriend, right?"

Ichigo turned into very different shades of red, in a matter of seconds.

"I-ah-I… you… No!" He yelled, looking at the sides to see if anyone had heard. Meanwhile, a drop of sweat formed in the older woman's head. "Inoue is my friend! Friends! We're just friends!"

 _Although, I guess I_ _am_ _kinda trying to shift into something more than friends…_

"Oh. My mistake, then. Regardless, you two seem close." Ichigo gulped, wishing he could stop blushing so much. "So maybe you can still help me out,"

"And why would I do that?" Who did this woman think she was?

"I already told you. Because of Orihime!"

"From what I know, Inoue wants to keep her distance from you!" he exclaimed. "You can't blame her for that! Her brother literally ran away with her because of how abusive you and your husband were!"

Erina's face fell into a frown, and she looked down.

"It's… it's true. Warren and I were terrible parents. We put ourselves before our children. I don't blame Sora for running away from us," she looked up at him, determination in her eyes. "But that was almost two decades ago! Things have changed! Warren passed away three years ago, and I was finally free from his abusive hands and mind. I was able to think clearly and realize just how many mistakes I've made! Don't I have the right to try and fix my wrongs?!"

Ichigo stayed silent to that. He let her continue.

"So I called my sister Meiko. I knew that if anyone knew were my children were, it was her. And she…" her green eyes filled with tears. "She told me about Sora. He got into an accident many years ago. I felt like my world shattered beneath my feet. Then all I could think about was Orihime. Was she alone in the world? Is she safe? Is she happy? And Meiko told me where she was." She stopped, to see if the boy had anything to say, but he simply stared at her. So she continued. "I'm… I'm really trying to change, to be a better person. I just want… I want the chance to get to know my daughter, be good enough for her…"

Ichigo snorted, much to her shock.

"Be good enough for her? Please! Inoue is literally the best person I know. She's everything that's good in this miserable, stinking world. There's no such thing as being good enough for her," _I would know._ He leaned against the door. "You're right. You have the right to change and to become a better person. You have the right to want to get to know your daughter, but how you'll get there is up to you. If Inoue doesn't want you around, that's her right too."

"But she's confused right now! The only thing she knows about me is the things Sora said to her!" Erina argued back. "Maybe if you could talk to her, ask her to give me just one chance to prove myself…"

"Sorry, but you'll have to get there with your own efforts. Inoue is a precious friend to me. I won't betray her trust," Ichigo turned his back on the woman, and took a hold of the door's handle. "Have a good evening. Or don't. I don't really care."

"Do you have a mother?"

Once again, he stopped in his tracks.

"What did you say?" He asked, between gritted teeth.

"I asked if you have a mother," She didn't back down, despite noticing how his demeanor changed. "If you do, you must understand how important it is to have one. If you don't…"

"Don't you dare compare yourself to my mother!" He yelled, letting his anger speak for him. "My mother was good and gentle! She would never hurt her children the way you did!"

 _Was_.

The woman ahead of him simply bowed her head, nodding.

"Then you know how painful it is to not have one,"

Ichigo's hands closed into fists, and his nails dug onto his skin.

"Don't presume to understand how I feel. The only reason my mother isn't with me is because she can't. You _chose_ to be a shitty mother," he turned his back on her again. "If you want to be in Inoue's life, you gotta work for it. Don't burden other people to fix the mess _you've_ made,"

The woman behind him sighed.

"I should've known this wasn't going to work." She said, more to herself than to him. "But I really want to get close to my daughter. I'm not going to give up. I think you really care about her, and you seem to be a good person. That hair is kinda weird though," Ichigo scowled. "But I'm sure you'll do the right thing. I have to believe that. If you need to find me or contact me, I'm staying at the hotel 'Piece of Paradise'."

He didn't turn to look at her, but he could tell she was leaving.

"She's not."

"What?" The woman asked, confused.

"You asked if she was alone. She's not. She might've lost her family, but she was never alone. And she never will be. I'll make sure of that,"

Before leaving, Erina allowed herself to smile.

"I'm glad," was all she said.

-x-

 _Monday, 12:30 PM._

"… so I agreed to meet with her this afternoon so we could figure out better how to perform together."

"Hm,"

"As expected of Ishida-kun! It appears that you and Kido-san are getting along very well! When can we meet her?!"

Uryuu choked on his drink.

Did things always escalate so quickly in Orihime's mind? Yuzuriha Kido was a fellow classmate from college, and they'd been grouped together for a project. They had asked him about his day, so he'd just been merely explaining how he would be working with her this afternoon.

"W-why should you meet her? It's just a project," Uryuu argued.

"So? I love meeting new people! She must be really cool if she's captured Ishida-kun's attention," was it just him, or Orihime's voice sounded teasing?

Regardless, he blushed.

"She didn't capture my anything! We're not even friends, we're just classmates!"

"Your voice softened while you were talking about her," Great, now Chad was teasing too.

Now all he could wait was for Ichigo to enter this pointless debate.

He waited.

Waited.

Then blinked.

Ichigo was surprisingly quiet, simply staring at them, or mostly just staring at Orihime, with a very worried look in his eyes. Uryuu didn't understand. Did this have something to do with Orihime's mother being in town? Could it be that maybe the woman had disapproved of him? He already knew Orihime's aunt, Meiko, wasn't very fond of Ichigo from the short time she'd spent at Orihime's place during their last year of school. Maybe he was upset another member of her family disliked him? Though it's not like it counted.

The one person that mattered did _love_ him. And Ichigo was just too stupid to notice.

Could it be because he hadn't confessed his feelings yet?

This was all very confusing for Uryuu. He could never read Ichigo, could only know for sure that he would act like a fool.

"Idiot," he muttered, without even noticing.

"Sorry, I guess we've gone a little too far," Orihime apologized, blushing.

"N-no, Inoue-san," He clarified. "I wasn't talking about you or Sado-kun. I was just…" He eyed Ichigo quickly. "Just talking to myself,"

"It's okay. I do that a lot too!" Orihime cheerfully added.

"She does," was all Sado had to say.

Uryuu allowed himself to smile. His friends…

Orihime opened her mouth to speak again, but her phone suddenly beeped. All of her three companions looked up to her, surprised, Ichigo included.

She checked the phone and then gasped in surprise.

"Oh, no!" she exclaimed, grabbing her purse. "I'm so sorry, guys. Aria-chan has to leave earlier because of personal reasons, so I need to go over there and help Boss-san!"

"You're…" Ichigo finally spoke. "You're leaving now? Already?"

"Yes, I'm so sorry. I wanted to spend more time with you guys, but… it's only me and Natsu-kun this afternoon," at the mention of her co-worker, Uryuu noted something flashing in Ichigo's eyes. Jealousy, no doubt.

Although it wasn't as bad as it had been last year, when Orihime did introduce said Natsu to them, and their friends such as Tatsuki and Rukia had teased Ichigo mercilessly over the fact that Orihime referred to the boy with his given name, instead of his surname. It was only after Orihime had slipped to them that Natsu had a girlfriend that Ichigo's broody demeanor begun to melt. _This boy_ , Uryuu laughed internally _, thought he was so good at hiding how he felt_. Although, he was certain that despite his feelings, if there had been something going on between Orihime and her co-worker, Ichigo would never get mad at her or try to impose his feelings on her. He was the kind of man who would respect her decision to be with someone and just keep himself out of the way. Uryuu hated to admit it, but he did respect Ichigo for this.

"I'll make it up to you guys another day," she kept apologizing, waking Uryuu from his thoughts.

"It's okay, Inoue-san. We understand," Uryuu smiled, filling his cup with more juice and drinking it. "The rest of us has to get going soon, too."

"I'll walk you there," Ichigo said suddenly, getting up. Uryuu and Chad looked at him, surprised. Orihime did, too. "It's a different path from my college, but I know a detour that'll help me get back there fast,"

"I couldn't ask you to do that!" Orihime interjected, blushing, waving her hands. "Your lunch break doesn't end for another half hour, so there's no way I…"

"Exactly. My lunch break. I choose how I spend it," Ichigo grabbed his bag and threw it over his shoulder. "Let's get going,"

"But…"

"I'll see you two later. Chad. Ishida."

"Hm,"

"As if I'd have any reason to see you later, Kurosaki," Uryuu simply turned away from Ichigo, focusing on finishing his lunch, and missing the sassy smirk Ichigo had thrown at him.

"That's right, you'll be too busy meeting with your sweetheart, Kido-san,"

For the second time that day, Uryuu choked on his food, Chad opened a smile and Orihime giggled behind her hand.

"Why you…"

"Let's go, Inoue," Ichigo said, ignoring the Quincy, and gently pushing the girl towards the exit.

Uryuu angrily slammed his hand on the table, a dark blush covering his cheeks.

The never of that little smug punk!

-x-

Despite hearing him talk to her, Orihime knew something else was going on with Ichigo. He seemed desperate to tell her something, but every time he would open his mouth, his eyes would give up and he'd talk about something else. She let him, though.

Besides, it's not like she herself hadn't been avoiding the topic of something unpleasant.

" _I'm your mother,"_

Orihime shook her head.

A true mother wouldn't harm her children, right? All the mothers Orihime knew or heard about would do anything for their child. Masaki Kurosaki had died protecting her son; Katagiri Ishida had been a good mother to her son, until a sickness took her away; Tatsuki's mother had her daughter's feisty spirit, but was a great woman regardless. She'd been motherly even to those who hadn't been her blood, such as Orihime herself.

 _It's better off this way,_ Orihime thought. She'd survived all those years without this woman. _I'm_ _better of this way._

Wasn't that right?

"Inoue?"

"Yes, Kurosaki-kun?" She turned to him as they walked. She hoped he could finally say what was bothering him.

He stopped walking, and took a deep breath. Orihime stopped a few steps ahead of him, and then turned to his direction, so they were face to face. The sounds of the cars around in the street were loud, as no words were uttered between them.

"What is it?" She asked. "Y-you… You can tell me,"

Ichigo sighed.

"It's about your mother,"

Orihime's eyes widened.

"What?!" without even realizing it, her right hand gripped her own left arm. Why? Why every time she was mentioned, Orihime felt as though she was stuck in a never-ending fight? "What about that woman?"

Despite knowing how she felt about her mother, Ichigo still looked surprised whenever she spoke coldly of the older woman. She didn't blame him.

It surprised her too, sometimes.

"That night, the day she came to see you, she showed up at my place," he explained. "She… wanted to talk to me,"

Orihime squeezed her own arm so much, it began to hurt.

"What about?"

"You,"

"Me?"

"Yes," Ichigo cleaned his throat. "She… wanted to convince me… to convince you to… get to know her."

Orihime's eyebrows narrowed, and she hesitantly took a step back.

"That's… not what you're trying to do… is it, Kurosaki-kun?"

It was Ichigo's time to widen his eyes.

"No! Not at all! I respect your decision! I just…" he did that thing when he was nervous, and ran his hand through his orange locks. "I just wanted y-you to know… I didn't think it was right to hide this from you,"

"Oh," Orihime slowly let go of her arm, as her heart filled with guilt. What was wrong with her, suspecting him like this? Was her problem with her mother so impacting that had her doubting Ichigo? Of course he would never do something like that! He'd always been the one who respected her the most, out of all her friends. "I'm… I'm sorry,"

"Aaah," Ichigo shook his head, negatively. "Stop apologizing to me, Inoue."

"But I… I should've known you would never… I don't know why…"

He flicked her forehead, causing her to wince slightly.

And his fingers to hurt.

Kami, what was her head made of?

"Listen, I know you're used to being kind to everyone, but even you are bound to lash out sometimes," Ichigo said, walking again. She immediately followed him, rubbing her forehead. "Plus, you tend to get all sassy with me whenever I talk about that discarded bread you bring to us once in a while, so you being upset with me is nothing new, right?"

Orihime narrowed her eyes.

"They aren't discarded. They just weren't sold,"

"That's another way to say discarded,"

"The feeling is different!" she argued.

"See? Look at you getting all worked up over bread," Ichigo teased.

Despite the fact that he'd always eat the bread she'd bring to him, and knowing the bread was actually good, he loved messing with her like this. It was something neither Chad or Uryuu did, so it was just between the two of them.

Orihime pouted, and looked at the other way, crossing her arms.

"Well then, if any there's any bread left again, I'm not giving Kurosaki-kun any,"

"Relax, I'm just kidding,"

They walked some more in silence, both with their minds still full, but more at ease now that they'd talked.

"What did she say to you?" She asked, after a while. "Onii-chan told me she was a very… a woman very hard to re-refuse." She couldn't help the blush that covered her cheeks. "She… huh… s-she didn't try to do anything weird to you, did she, Kurosaki-kun?"

"Eh?!" Ichigo felt his face burn. "Of course not, why would she?! She's old enough to be my mother!"

Orihime laughed, in an attempt to end the awkward tension between them.

"I know! I know! I was just asking…"

"I'm not interested in women older than me! Geez!" Ichigo said, looking away from her, his cheeks still red.

Orihime couldn't help but be warmed at the sight. It wasn't always that she saw Ichigo blushing. Although… he did seem to be doing a lot of that around her, since Rukia's wedding day.

"Whatever she'd try to throw at me wouldn't have worked. The power of decision here lies entirely with you," Ichigo said, shrugging. "And you've made your decision,"

Silence took over again.

Orihime lowered her gaze to the ground, feeling a weight on her shoulders that she couldn't shrug off. Yes, she had made her decision. She had lived on her own, without any of her parents, for pretty much her entire life. Her brother had been the parent she had needed for 12 years. Ever since she'd lost him, she'd cooked her own food, brushed her own hair, picked her own clothes and took care of her own things.

She didn't need a mother.

She hadn't needed one before, and she didn't need one now.

So why?

Why was her heart clenching with such uncertainty?

 _I don't owe her anything. So why do I feel like this? It doesn't make any sense…_

"What would you have done?" She asked, not being able to hold back.

"Huh?" Ichigo was confused for a second, but with the way his face fell into a worried frown, he seemed to understand what she meant. "I don't think it's my place to answer this, Inoue,"

"I'm sorry," she apologized. "I shouldn't have asked about Kurosaki-san…"

"It's not that! It's just… you and I… it was different… for both of us," Ichigo tried to explain. "My mom, she…" He clenched his fist. He'd gotten better at talking about this; after the war, he'd sat down with all his friends, Rukia, Orihime, Chad, Uryuu and Renji and told them all about his mother. What had happened and how he'd lost her. Even so, there was still a tug at his heart whenever he talked about the woman he had loved so much. The woman he had wanted to protect so badly… and failed. "She was always kind to me and my sisters. Never treated us with indifference and never let anyone hurt us."

"I know," Orihime said, a bittersweet smile gracing her pink lips. "I'm not trying to compare our situations. I just…"

 _I need to know I made the right decision._

"I would do anything to have the chance to have one more minute with my mother," Ichigo said, softly and honestly. Orihime's eyes rose to meet his. "If I had the chance, I would take it without a thought. For me, for my sisters, and for my father too."

But he'd never have a chance like this.

 _And you do,_ the evil annoying voice in her head reminded her.

" _I'm trying to change! I'm trying to be better! Please, give me the chance to show you!"_

This wasn't fair.

None about this was fair.

"But my mother isn't your mother. They're different. With everything your mother has done to you and your brother…"

" _That's who I was before! I know I was a bad person; I made all the wrong choices, and because of those choices I lost you and Sora! But I'm willing to stick around now. If you… if you'll have me… if you just give me one chance, Orihime…"_

"… it's okay for you to not want her in your life,"

It's okay.

It's okay, was what everyone had told her.

It's the right decision, was what none of them had told her.

 _Kurosaki-kun would give anything to have his mother back… so would Ishida-kun… Sado-kun too… and here I am, with mine back and I'm pushing her away…_

 _Selfish girl,_ the mean voice said. _That's what you are_.

"Thank you, Kurosaki-kun," she said, eyes not meeting his.

"What for?" He asked.

"Just because," She turned to him, and gently brushed his arm with her hand, squeezing it in a form of thanking him. "Kurosaki-kun always helps me, even when he doesn't have to…"

"Silly," he said, but didn't pull away from her. "I'm going to be here whenever you need me, so you might as well just get used to it. You don't have to thank me. That's what friends are for."

"Yup," she opened as smile. "We're friends,"

"Y-yeah," his voice faltered for a second, but he smiled back at her. "F-friends,"

Both looked down at the ground, their smiles disappearing.

"We're here!" She exclaimed, suddenly, pointing at the place she worked at. "I better get going. Can't leave all the work on Natsu-kun's hands."

"Sure," Ichigo felt disappointment as her hand let go of his arm. "You, huh… if you need anything, call me, okay?"

"Will do," she waved goodbye as she moved away from him, keeping her head low so he wouldn't see the amount of doubts that were eating up her brain.

She reached for the door of the building, hoping that maybe cooking and working would ease her mind a little more. She needed to find a way to relax. She couldn't be like this for the rest of the day.

"Minna-san, I've arrived!" she put on a cheery voice and called out as soon as she entered the place.

"Orihime-chan, I'm glad you're finally here," her boss had said, though his voice seemed strained.

"Where is Aria-chan? Has she already left?" She asked, entering the kitchen.

"Yes, she… she did."

"Oh, that's too bad. I wish I could've said goodbye to her," Orihime was actually at fault for this. She'd gotten so caught up talking to Ichigo that she forgot all about how the girl had to leave.

Closing the kitchen door behind her, she turned to her work place, landing there her purse, and grabbing her apron. A familiar face approached her, waving.

"Natsu-kun!" she exclaimed, happily.

"Hey there, Orihime-chan," he said, returning her smile, though he didn't seem like his happy self that day. "You heard about Aria-chan?"

"Boss-san told me she had to leave for personal reasons. That's all I know. Why? Did something happen?" Orihime liked all of her co-workers, and she had a very good relationship with Aria Komuro. She hoped nothing bad had happened to the girl. "She's okay, right?"

Natsu sighed.

"Physically, I'd say so. Nothing happened to her," he said, continuing his work at washing the dishes. "It's about her mother,"

Orihime froze.

"W-what?"

"Yeah. It's pretty sad, actually. She passed away this morning. Aria was devastated when her father called, to let her know. Apparently, Komuro-san had been sick for a while now, but she'd been fighting against that. After some time, she seemed okay, so they thought she was getting better. Must've been a big loss," Natsu sighed, sadly. "She always seemed like a kind soul, those times Aria brought her here. I was thinking maybe we could go over to her house when we're done working, to give her some support. She— Orihime-chan?! Are you okay?!"

Orihime wiped her teary eyes, waving with her hand when Natsu tried to approach her.

"Don't worry. I'm fine, I just…"

Her hand closed into a fist, and her nails dug so hard into her skin, she could feel it bruising, could feel the wetness of blood trying to spill out.

"I'm just sad for Aria-chan,"

" _I would do anything to have the chance to have one more minute with my mother_ ".

-x-

 _Still Monday, 8:02 PM._

Ichigo felt his phone beeping in his pocket.

Closing his book (he might as well just give up, because he was never going to finish that thing), with a grunt, he reached for said pocket and pulled out his phone.

 _Tatsuki calling._

Now that was odd.

Arching his eyebrows, Ichigo clicked on the green button and answered her phone call, putting the phone on his ear.

"What?"

" _What? Seriously, punk? Is that way to answer to your oldest friend in the world?"_

"What do you want, Tatsuki? This better be quick! I'm supposed to be studying!" Ichigo groaned.

" _I just wanted to know if you've heard from Orihime. She didn't talk to me at all today,"_

"Oh," Ichigo felt worry building up in his chest. "Is that so?"

" _Yeah. She always calls me when she gets back from work, even when Natsu-san drops her off at home…"_ Ichigo scowled at this. He knew this Natsu guy was actually a good person, but it bothered him a little bit how close he seemed to his healer friend. _"… but I have yet to hear from her. Despite being a city away, I can definitely sense her spiritual pressure in Karakura, but I can't tell where she is. I'm not very good with this detecting thing,"_

"I'll look for her," Ichigo offered. "It's patrolling night, anyway,"

" _Fine, fine. I'm trusting you with her safety. At least that you can do well,"_

"Fuck you,"

" _Cute. Anyways, call me if you find her!"_

Ichigo didn't even say goodbye, simply grunted in a way to say 'yes', and closed the phone. He closed his eyes, and searched for Orihime's presence. It didn't take him too long to find it – out of all his friends, her spiritual pressure always stood out the most to him. The minute he found it, his eyebrows arched and he opened his eyes.

What was she doing _there_ , at this time of the night?

-x-

 _INOUE SORA_

 _LOVING BROTHER AND FRIEND_

 _XXXX – XXXX_

Orihime sighed loudly while staring at her brother's grave. She lifted her hand and caressed the stone with his name engraved and lowered her finger, softly. She lowered her eyes to the wet sand around the grave, as she laid a simple white flower.

She hadn't come over to visit his grave since the day of his burial, to which only she and her aunt, and some of Sora's work friends had showed up to. Every time she talked to and prayed for him, she did it at her place, with the only picture she had of him.

This was the first time, in a very long time, she'd come over to see the place where they'd buried his body.

"Hey, Onii-chan," She said, getting on her knees. "Is there any way a cosmic loophole could allow you to talk to me? I really need some adult guidance right now, and I don't think Urahara-san or Yoruichi-san would be comfortable talking about this with me," She closed her eyes. "And despite the last time we saw each other, you tried to kill me and my friends, I like to believe we got past that,"

She interlaced her own fingers, as her lips trembled. However, she refused to cry. She was tired of doing that. There had been enough subtle, silent tears when she and Natsu had gone over to Aria's place, to give her condolences and show some support. She, once again, sighed loudly.

"To be honest, Onii-chan, I haven't been doing very well lately," She looked at the sides, watching as the flowers moved along with the wind. What an interesting view. "I'm trying to stay strong because I don't want to worry my friends. But that's getting harder and harder. Mother came to see me, I've already told you. I thought I was doing the right thing, for both you and me, by telling her I didn't want her to be in my life. But the more I think about it, the more I think I'm just scared," she lowered her eyes. "I hate feeling like this. That's it, hate. I should hate her! That's what I always thought. But when I looked at her, I didn't… I didn't feel that. I tried to, I… I knew what my decision would be the moment she told me who she was. But… even for just a moment, I guess I… I wanted to take that chance!" She hid her face between her hands. "I don't need a mother, I know that I don't, but for that one moment, I _wanted_ one! And I yelled at myself for it! But now I've stopped to think and I realized how everyone else would give anything to have a second chance with their mothers!"

She embraced herself. It was so cold in there, especially being alone.

"What do you think, Onii-chan? If I give her a chance, am I selfish for ignoring your wish to protect me from her? Or am I selfish for not giving her a chance, when any one of my friends would wish for one?" She touched the graveyard once more. "What am I supposed to do now?"

Obviously, Sora wouldn't answer. She knew that. That's why she laughed silently at herself for being so stupid as to ask a question knowing she'd receive no answer.

It was with surprise then that she watched as a wave of wind passed by, and a petal of the white flower flew along, and landed on the hard face of her long-time friend, and also love, Ichigo Kurosaki.

Orihime blinked, in surprise.

"Kurosaki-kun," she said, still not believing her eyes.

The orange-haired boy smiled softly at her.

He approached her, and she took her time to observe him. He was obviously in his spiritual form, seen as he wore his shinigami kimono and she could see his sword thrown at his back. As he got to where she was, he extended a hand, which she shyly took (the recent increase in their physical touching was something she was still getting used to) and got up, face to face with him.

"Didn't I tell you before? Your brother would've wanted you to choose what was right for you. Stop being so damn selfless and thinking about others. Think about what you want for once," He said, trying his best to sound reprimanding, but he couldn't do that when she was looking right into his eyes. "It's your life. Take a stand. You deserve it."

"Won't that make me awful?" She asked, almost in a whisper.

"Tch. _Awful_. As if you could be awful." He mocked.

"This is serious!" She pouted.

"So am I! I came here to support you in whatever decision you want to make. Weren't you the one who said to me, when I was doubting myself about going to Soul Society to save Rukia, that as long as you're alive, you can always meet your family?" She didn't know what to say. She'd forgotten about that. "That choice was relevant for her, and it's relevant for you too. She and Byakuya had a shitty relationship, until it changed; you have the chance to change your relationship with your mother too. If that's what you want, I'll stand by you. And if it's not, I'll still stand by you. No matter what you decide, you are not alone. I promise you,"

This time, Orihime couldn't help the tears.

Before she could stop herself, she threw herself at Ichigo, burying her face into his chest and crying out all she'd tried to hold in all day. It took him a while to respond, because he was still surprised at her sudden gesture, but he moved both his arms, resting them on her back, squeezing her gently and bringing her closer to him. One of his hands moved and went to her head, caressing her hair.

They stayed like that for a while, with her crying softening by the minute, until she was simply breathing in his scent, wondering if she could possibly fall in love with him more. He smelt like home, and felt like the comfort she'd been needing all day. Actually, maybe for longer than just this day.

Meanwhile, Ichigo, too, was savoring the moment for as long as he could. For how long had he wanted to hold her like this? He'd gotten a quick tease of what her hug felt like when she'd grabbed him out of the way so he wouldn't follow Uryuu, when they found out he was "betraying" them; another when he'd pulled her out of the way so those weird Quincy statues wouldn't hurt her, and he'd held her close to his chest, resting his hand into her soft hair. But this, what they were doing right now, was so much better.

She fit so well in his arms, as though as she'd been made to stay there.

"Thank you," she whispered against his chest, and he felt a shiver run down his spine.

He opened his mouth to say that's what friends were for, but couldn't bring himself to do so. Not when he was this intoxicated in her flowery scent, and holding her so close; friendship was the last thing on his mind at the moment.

"Always," was what he ended up responding to her 'thank you'.

After a while, they slowly parted, both blushing immediately at how close they'd just been and for how long they had been like that. But despite that, Orihime opened up a confident smile, and lifted up her arms with determination.

"I've made my decision,"

-x-

Erina was almost done reading her novel, when she heard the phone ringing on the wall. She closed the book and walked to the place near her bed, picking it up and pressing it to her ear.

"Hello?"

"Ms. Erina Inoue, we have a phone call for you,"

She blinked and waited. Her heart started to fill with hope, knowing there was only one person who could possibly know this number. Her toes began to fidget, and her throat was suddenly dry.

"Yo,"

What?

A male voice?

"Who is this?" It couldn't have been one of her old clients, right? He sounded too young and, even so, she'd left that life behind for years now.

"It's Ichigo Kurosaki," the voice said, annoyed.

"Whaaat?" She asked, genuinely surprised, but feeling relieved she had been wrong. "How did you get this number, boy?"

"I asked around," he asked, his voice dripping with mockery. She rolled her eyes when she remembered their last talk. "Inoue has made her choice,"

She gulped.

"I-I thought so…" She looked at the wall, silently praying in her head. Something she hadn't done for so long, it almost felt weird now. "And what was that?"

There was a brief silence on the other line, and she could almost hear the boy pondering over what he'd say.

"She decided to give you a chance,"

The hope that had been growing like a flower inside her heart, at last bloomed. She closed her eyes, feeling them wet with tears, and sighed in relief. She could feel the sobs of joy trying to come out, but she controlled herself. She was still in the middle of a phone call, anyway.

"I'm so glad!" She exclaimed. "Is she there? C-could I talk to her now?"

"Nah. She's here, but I told her to take a nap. She's… been through enough today. You can talk to her tomorrow; she wanted to know if you wanna have lunch with her…"

"Of course I do!" She yelled, so distracted with her own happiness that she didn't hear the orange haired boy complaining about her loud voice. "Just give me the address and the time and I'll be there!"

"Yeah, yeah. But before that, there's something you should know," His voice suddenly turned serious, and despite her happiness, Erina started to frown.

"What is it?"

"Inoue has already been through a lot of shit during her life. She's been hurt by many people. So you better not be one of them, do you understand?" Erina swallowed, dryly. For someone who was barely an adult, this boy had a threatening voice. "When you meet her tomorrow, and from now on, you better be a fucking angel or something like that, and you better not make Inoue sad! Mess with her, and I won't hesitate to mess with you!"

Erina repeatedly blinked, still surprised by the boy's words. However, she slowly smiled and nodded, even though he couldn't see it.

"I'll do my best,"

"Of course you will. Inoue is willing to take a chance on you, so you better not screw this up!"

"Is that why you're the one speaking to me, instead of my daughter? You wanted to warn me before we proceed with this? Does she know?"

"She wanted to talk to you, but I offered to do so for her. I wanted to make sure you were serious about her," He said, without hesitating.

"I really am," she said, putting up a hand in her heart. "I don't like being threatened, especially by a boy decades younger than me, but… thank you. I'm glad to know she's got people like you in her life, who look after her,"

The boy didn't say anything, but from the little she'd seen when she suggested he and Orihime were a thing, she could only imagine he was flustered at her words.

"Yeah. Whatever. I'll give you the address now, so write it down…"

She did as he told her to, and when he hung up the phone, she allowed herself to drop to her knees. For so long, she had suffered at the hands of her husband. For so long, she had doomed her children the same fate; had never lifted a finger to protect them. For so long, she'd been numb with drinks and money, anything she could use to distract herself from just how empty she was.

 _Kami-sama, please,_ she begged in her mind, eyes closed, _I know I wasn't a good person. But please, let this be my chance to redeem myself._

" _That girl is good. She's suffered and been hurt, but somehow, she continues to be good,"_ Her sister, Meiko, had told her, just before Erina told her she wanted to meet with her daughter. " _Take advantage of that, and I won't be able to forgive you,"_.

If she did screw this up somehow, Erina was sure she would never be able to forgive _herself_.

-x-

 _Tuesday, 12:01 PM._

"You came," Orihime had said, slightly gentler than she'd been when they met, but still on guard.

"Of course I did," Erina said, sitting down on the chair. She was practically glowing with excitement, and that made Orihime move uncomfortably in her chair. "I would never miss the chance of meeting you."

 _You sure were fine not seeing me for the last 17 years,_ she bitterly thought, then shook her head. Those were the little blue men trying to get into her head, filling her with negative thoughts. And it wasn't time for negative thoughts. She promised herself she'd actually try.

"I'm… I'm glad you decided to come, Erina-san," Orihime said, politely. "I have a bit of limited time, so if you have something to say…"

"I've already said so much," Erina said, reaching out with her hand, trying to grab Orihime's, but the girl pulled away. Erina tried to hide her disappointment. "I just… I want to get to know you. Tell me about you,"

"Okay. I will. But before, there's something I want to ask you," Orihime looked nervously at the side. This was so much harder than she ever thought.

"Of course, anything!"

"Why did you…" _Control yourself, Orihime,_ she told herself. "What happened that was so bad that Onii-chan had enough with you and my father? That made him decide to run away?"

Erina's gentle smile started to drop, and she looked at the table, her eyes filled with shame and remorse.

"You really want to know about that?"

"Yes, I do," Orihime replied, her voice tight.

"Okay, then. It's not exactly a happy story, like you might imagine," Erina sighed. She really didn't want to talk about this. "Warren and I were fighting, like we'd been doing for most of our lives since I got pregnant with Sora. This time, the fight was worse, because I… I…"

"You?" Orihime asked.

 _Please, forgive me,_ Erina begged in her head.

"I'd received visit from… a _friend_ , while Warren was at work and Sora was at school, his last day there. So it was just you and me. This friend of mine, he… took an interest in you. I was too drugged to comprehend what was going on, so when he offered me money in exchange of you, I… I accepted it,"

She looked up to see Orihime's eyes, but they were clouded with something she couldn't identify. Even though there sitting face to face, her daughter seemed far away, more distant than ever.

"I see," Orihime replied. The cold in her voice had shivers running down Erina's spine.

The woman opened her mouth to apologize, but gave up, and decided to continue with the story.

"Before he could leave with you, Sora arrived. Since my friend was also too drugged, Sora didn't have any problem in taking him down. I remember him yelling at me, calling me horrible names, and I deserved all of those. I just didn't care, then. Then Warren got home too, and the fighting just got worse. He slapped me in the face, and told me he'd kill me if I tried to sell his daughter again. I was so angry then, I ended up telling him the truth,"

"The truth?" Her daughter arched an eyebrow.

"About you," Erina ran her hand through her brown hair. "Warren… you're not Warren's daughter,"

Orihime's eyes widened.

"What?!" The younger girl asked. "That… that means…"

"Yes. Sora and you only shared a mother. Sora always knew that, but that didn't stop him from caring for you and taking care of you. That's how good he was," Erina's chest tightened at the memory of her son. "But Warren didn't know. Truth is, I don't actually know who your father is… or was… we only met once, and he was just passing by the town. I saw him as nothing other than harmless fun… but three weeks after that, I winded up pregnant. I was terrified of what Warren would do to me, so I just told him it was his. He had one hell of a temper. So as you can imagine, he lost it when I told him that you weren't his daughter. He hit me… so many times. He broke my left arm, and gave me a horrible black eye that night. Then he told me he'd kill you." Erina covered her face with her hands. "My guess is that Sora heard what he said. Not too long after that, all we heard was the door slamming shut, and when Warren looked for you and Sora, you were both long gone. I laughed at the bastard, mocked him for not doing anything right. So instead of looking for you two, he just came back and took his anger out on me,"

Erina looked sadly at the table.

"Did he…?" The sudden change in Orihime's tone surprised her, and when she looked up to her daughter, said girl's eyes were filled with worry and sadness. "What did he do to you?"

"Nothing he hadn't done before," Erina replied, bitterly. "Though he was definitely more aggressive than he'd ever been,"

She heard and sob, and only then noticed that tears threatened to fall from Orihime's eyes.

"I'm… I'm sorry this happened to you," The younger girl said, rubbing her eyes, in an attempt to stop her tears from coming out. "No person should have to go through this,"

"I deserved it," Erina whispered. "Didn't you hear me? What I did to you…"

"Nobody deserves this!" Orihime cried. "You don't fix a bad thing with another bad thing!"

Erina felt her own eyes filling with tears. She'd just told this girl about the horrible things she'd done, to her own three year old, and instead of crying for herself, Orihime was crying… for her? She'd been used so long to all the abuse Warren had given her for years that it had become like a numb memory for her; her daughter was the first person, ever since Meiko had given up on her, that had shed tears for what she'd been through.

"Please, don't cry for me," Erina asked, trying again to reach for Orihime's hand, and her chest exploded with joy when Orihime allowed her to grab it, and actually squeezed it back. "I promised that boy… your friend… that I wouldn't screw this up, and…"

"Don't worry, you're… you only gave an answer to my question." Orihime interjected, waving her free hand. "I needed to hear this, I just… I didn't expect things to be this bad…"

"I know," Erina said, with a sad smile.

"Thanks for telling me," Orihime said, resting her another hand over the top of her mother's. "There's another thing I'd like to ask,"

"Ask away," Erina nodded.

Orihime opened a shy smile.

"What's your favorite food?"

And so they talked. They talked about food, animals, and even movies (Orihime was shocked to hear that Erina hadn't watched a movie since she was 17), and discovered many things about each other. Orihime choked on her drink when Erina confessed she was 51 years old, and she'd asked the older woman how she still looked so good in her age, which had made the woman laugh like she hadn't in years. The more Erina heard about her daughter, the more she fell in love with her, and the more her heart ached with regret for all the years she'd missed. She asked about Sora's grave, and Orihime told her she'd take her there someday, so she could ask for her forgiveness and say her goodbyes.

"So, what do you think?" Erina had asked, when it was almost time for their meeting to end. "You think we can have the mother/daughter relationship we both lost?"

Orihime eyed her with suspicion in her eyes, and sighed.

"No, we can't,"

Erina felt her whole world crashing at her feet.

"W-what?" But… they'd been getting along fine. They'd told each other stories and they… they even laughed together. What had gone wrong?

"I'm sorry, but I think it's too late for that," Orihime said, genuinely sorry. "The truth is… all the moments in which I needed a mother, someone else was there, and not you. That's something I can't change. Back when I didn't know to do it myself, it was Onii-chan who brushed my hair. My first period, it was Tatsuki-chan's mother who helped. When I felt uncertain of myself, and needed someone to support me, it was Rangiku-san who stood by my side and let me cry. For every Mother's day that happened, it was to Meiko-san whom I sent all the cards and drawings I made at school. Those things are not things I can get back,"

"I understand," Erina said, tears burning in her eyes.

"But…" Erina looked up to her. Orihime was smiling gently again. "I don't see why we can't have a familial relationship. Maybe we can't be as close as a mother and a daughter, but… we can still be close. You were a bad person, Erina-san," she pointed out. "But as long as you're alive, you have the power to change, and if you really want to, I'm willing to let that person in my life. And I… I do… forgive you. Not for what you did for Onii-chan. That's not up to me. But what I can forgive… I do."

Sighing in relief, Erina held onto Orihime's hands again.

"Thank you," She said, between the tears. "I promise… you won't regret it!"

"Hm," Orihime nodded.

-x-

 _Tuesday, 12:56 PM._

Ichigo's foot was tapping against the floor, and he kept flicking his forehead with his pen. It was unusual for him to be having lunch alone, during the week. Usually he'd meet up with his friends, or even with just Orihime (but those were rare, and most of the meetings between friends she couldn't show up), but today was a different occasion. He was very nervous about what must be happening between the mother and daughter, but as he kept track of Orihime's reiatsu, it seemed normal and calm, sometimes a bit conflicted, but no negative reactions so far.

It was funny, he'd never been that good at sensing his friends' or even other people's reiatsu. It had been a huge issue during the beginning of his career as Substitute Shinigami, but he'd gotten better at it. Out of his friends, the first person whose presence he began to recognize at first was Orihime's. It was different from the others, there was a different sense to it. It could only belong to her, so it was distinct from Uryuu's and Chad's. With time, he began to sense better stronger presences like Rukia's and Renji's, but there was no other like Orihime's.

And then she'd left, to Hueco Mundo, and all there was left of her reiatsu was in his wrist… he remembered it, holding onto that small amount of reiatsu, for as long as he could, until it disappeared. And when it did, a part of him felt smaller and darker, not being able to sense her anymore. He'd gotten so used to her being around, and then she was gone, just like that. As soon as he got his powers back, every time he'd wake up in the morning, after his family, her presence was the first one he searched for.

Maybe it was because they spent a lot of time together, or maybe because he felt this need to protect her since they became friends, so he looked out for her the most out of his friends.

 _Or maybe it's because you're in love with her,_ another voice in his head suggested, mockingly.

Ichigo sighed.

Then his phone rang, and he lazily took it out his pocket. The minute he saw Orihime's name on the screen, he nearly jumped from his chair and picked it up.

"Inoue, hi!" He said, not noticing the weird looks people were giving him.

" _Hello, Kurosaki-kun! I'm not bothering you, am I? You told me to call you as soon as I left…"_ Her voice changed from cheery to hesitant in a whiplash.

"Of course not, you could never bother me." He blushed, as soon as he realized what he'd said. "S-so… the meeting, how did it go? Is everything alright?"

" _It was… okay. Good, actually. I think… I think maybe I really needed this,"_ he heard her sigh over the phone, almost out of relief. " _Thank you, Kurosaki-kun,"_

"What're you thanking me for?" Genuine curiosity filled his voice.

" _Because you helped me! Just like you always do! I was afraid of getting hurt again, but you gave me the courage to move forward. So thank you. Thank you very much,"_ she kept saying, her voice sounding so sweet and gentle that his heart started beating ridiculously fast.

"I-I-I-er… ah…" What the fuck was he even trying to say? "D-don't sweat it,"

" _Even so, I w-want to thank you properly! I'm kinda busy tomorrow, but this Thursday I'm coming from work a bit earlier, since I've worked extra hard these days, so d-do you want to watch a movie? It can be at my place!"_ Despite stuttering a bit, she managed to speak what she meant.

"A-a movie at your place?!" He asked, trying to ignore the little part inside of him that began to get hopeful. "Of course! N-not that you need to thank me, or anything, b-but I'm always up for a movie!"

Just the thought of being alone with her was beginning to give him goose bumps, in a very good way.

She giggled, happily.

" _Great! Now all I have to do is invite Ishida-kun and Sado-kun as well_!"

Ichigo's forming smile dropped and turned into a scowl.

"Oh… yeah, _them_ ,"

" _I'd invite Tatsuki-chan too, but she's currently of exams week, so I don't want to trouble her by making her come all the way here. Kuchiki-san and Abarai-kun are probably still on their… ho… honeymoon,"_ He could almost see her blushing. " _So that leaves just the four of us!"_

"Yes, it does," Ichigo said, trying not to sound bitter.

" _Is everything okay?"_ Apparently, it didn't work.

"Yeah, yeah, it is, I'm just annoyed that I have to get to class," which wasn't a lie, his class was about to start, but was still a cover up for his actual feelings. "Hm… talk to you later?"

" _O-of course! Good class, Kurosaki-kun! I'm sure you'll do well!"_

"Thanks! Bye," he heard her say goodbye, and waited for her to end the phone call. As soon as she did, he took a deep breath and pressed the phone to his chest. "Why am I doing this to myself?"

"I don't know either, man," a boy who was sitting nearby said, giving him a weird thumbs up.

Ichigo buried his face into his hand, groaning.

-x-

 _Later, that same day…_

" _So, Inoue-san called me and Sado-kun, apparently, to watch a movie this Thursday night_ ," Uryuu said.

"HOW THE FUCK DO YOU HAVE MY NUMBER?!" Ichigo yelled out at the phone, freaking out.

" _You idiot! I've had your number for two years now! You gave it to me_!" Uryuu yelled back.

"Oh… okay," Ichigo calmed down. "But why would I do that?"

" _Who knows? You're an idiot,"_

"Hey!" Ichigo complained.

" _Anyway_ ," Uryuu continued, ignoring his friend's yells of protest. " _I assume this means you still haven't told her… about your feelings_ ,"

"Don't say that out loud! And what is it to you, anyway?!" Ichigo asked, annoyed. "Did you call me just to annoy me?"

" _I'll take that as confirmation,"_ Uryuu sighed. " _So the boy who went to Soul Society to save his friend, invaded Hueco Mundo to save another friend, and who has fought shinigamis, Arrancars, Fullbringers, Aizen, and Yhwach, and any threat that has ever appeared… just can't put himself out there to get hurt_ ,"

"HEY!" Ichigo yelled again, then lowered his voice in fear of his family hearing him. God help him if his father, too, found out about his feelings for the healer… he would definitely die then. "I'm gonna tell her, I just…! She's got a lot going on right now! I can't impose my feelings on her like that and just add more weight onto her back!"

" _Sounds like you're just using this situation with Inoue-san's mother as an excuse to not tell her how you feel,"_

This fucker!

"Fuck you, Ishida!" He voiced his own thoughts. "Why does this matter to you?! This concerns no one other than me and Inoue!"

" _Because it's tiring! Not just for me, but Sado-kun too! Arisawa-san too!"_

"Wait, Tatsuki knows?!" Ichigo's eyes nearly bugged out of his face. "WHO TOLD HER?! WAS IT YOU?! ISHIDA, YOU BASTARD!"

"Onii-chan, stop yelling!" Yuzu yelled from downstairs, and Ichigo's eye twitched.

Instead of replying, all Uryuu did was give out a defeated sigh.

" _This is hopeless_ …" the Quincy whispered.

"Why are you complaining? You are the one bothering me!"

Uryuu groaned.

Why had Orihime fallen for such a bonehead?

" _Just forget about it, Kurosaki. I just wanted to confirm your presence. Make sure you go to Inoue-san's get together,"_ there was a tone of authority in his friend's voice, and that only annoyed Ichigo more.

"You don't have to tell me that, you jackass! Of course I'll go!" Ichigo said, while scratching his head. Time with Orihime was now more precious than ever; there's no way he'd miss out on the chance of seeing her.

" _You better_ ,"

Before Ichigo could reply, the Quincy hung up, leaving Ichigo to groan and complain about how much all his friends, except Orihime, of course, were vicious little shits. Why did they always give him an earful whenever it came to his feelings for Orihime? Shit, now Tatsuki knew too…

He was surprised she hadn't come back from her trip to castrate him.

The possibility made him close his legs in fear. Even so…

Ichigo sighed, as the image of Orihime's smiling face came to his mind. He hadn't seen her all day, had only just talked to her; she'd sounded hesitant on the phone, probably still scared to allow herself to be happy for having a family member back into her life, but he could still hear the tinge of hope in her voice, and his heart swelled at it.

He liked it when she was happy.

He wanted to make her happy.

He wanted to be the reason why she was happy.

"I'm so pathetic," Ichigo told himself, running his hand through his spikey orange locks. "How am I supposed to tell her?"

He wasn't good with words. He might as well just give into his own feelings, and take her into his arms (like Yoruichi had suggested, years ago) and kiss her like they did in that shoujo shit Yuzu and Rukia liked so much… she'd probably slap him. Nah, Orihime was too good for that. She'd probably let him do it, and then apologize for not returning his feelings… then their friendship would eventually get awkward, until it would be reduced to nothing other than polite occasional meetings in the streets, or at supermarkets, and one day he'd notice the engagement ring on her finger, and would curse at whoever the lucky bastard she was marrying was and…

Ichigo slammed his face against the wall.

-x-

"… so, what do you think of my plan, Sado-kun?"

" _Hm_ ,"

"I thought you'd say so,"

" _So neither of us is supposed to show up_?"

"No. If none of us show up they will probably be suspicious, Kurosaki especially. I'll find a way to be busy by then, and you show up to Inoue-san's get-together. You just find a way to have to leave in the middle. Yes, that way it will feel more natural,"

" _Hm_ ,"

"I'll take that as a yes,"

-x-

Thursday, the day for their friendly get together had finally arrived, and despite still being a bit annoyed about Uryuu and Chad also going (he felt horrible about feeling this way), Ichigo was still excited about spending time with them. College was necessary, but still very tiring, and being with his friends always gave him a sense of ease, and helped him relax. They were going to watch a new zombie movie; personally, he wasn't a big fan of them, thought there was too much gore and too many stupid people, but they always got Orihime looking fascinated, scared and, surprisingly, hungry, and she claimed they were her favorite kind of movies, so he looked forward to watching them with her.

Orihime had spent most of the previous day with her mother, she'd told him when they spoke at night. Not only they had lunch together again, but when she'd come back from work, they went out and she'd showed Erina around the town; he could tell she was slowly beginning to open up to the older woman, even if a part of their relationship would always be strained because of the past, it relieved him that things were working out. She didn't want to get too attached, she'd said, after all Erina had come to the town just to meet her, and she would leave back to her aunt's place after three weeks. Before he could stop himself, he'd told her that what mattered was that she was happy, and he had turned into a blushing mess, _again,_ when she said he was "so kind".

 _This is good,_ Ichigo thought, _this is us being just friends, and it's good._

But then he'd knocked on her door, that night, and saw her smiling face, a soft blush on her cheeks, and his heart constricted. It was beginning to hurt _physically_ , not saying what he felt.

Thankfully, Chad had gone all the way to her house with him, so he was able to keep his emotions at check, and disguised it pretty well by giving her a simple smile and a 'yo'.

"Come on in, Kurosaki-kun, Sado-kun!"

The boys did as they were told, and as they entered her house, Ichigo's head cocked to the sides, looking for their Quincy friend.

"Where is Ishida?"

"Ishida-kun just called me. Said he wasn't gonna be able to make it," Orihime said, sounding slightly sad. "But he told me he'd watch the movie some other time, and for us to just watch it without him,"

"Don't have to tell me that twice," Ichigo said, shrugging, and moving towards Orihime's couch. It was his job to bring the movie, and Chad's job to bring the popcorn. As he, after asking for permission, started to turn on the DVD, Ichigo noticed there was a cake colored in orange atop of Orihime's dinner table. "What's that?"

"Oh!" Orihime smiled brightly, and walked quickly to the dinner table, pointing at the cake. "I made this for Kurosaki-kun!"

"For me?!" Ichigo choked.

"Yes! I told you I wanted to thank you properly! You don't have to worry, I didn't add any of my usual tastes in it! It has chocolate, just like Kurosaki-kun likes it!"

Once again, Ichigo found himself speechless. His brain shut off, and therefore he missed the part where Orihime blushingly yelled at Chad that he could eat the cake too, after she caught him looking at her, with a little smirk on his lips.

"Y-you didn't have to do this, Inoue! I already told you that I help you because I want to… a-and I didn't really do anything other than talk to you!" Ichigo exclaimed, waving his hands.

"I… I-I wanted to," Orihime stopped explaining herself to Chad, and then turned to Ichigo, still blushing. Then she looked incredibly sad. "B-but… Kurosaki-kun doesn't have to eat it if he doesn't want to…"

"Of course I want to eat your cake!" Ichigo half-yelled, blushing even harder when he realized what he said. "I-I mean, the ca-cake y-you made f-for me… I was just trying to tell you that… I… I don't want you to worry yourself with these things… I…"

The rare sound of Chad's laughter filled the room, and made both of the blushing adults look at their tall friend. Noticing they'd stopped talking, Chad slowly stopped laughing.

"Sado-kun?" Orihime questioned.

"Nothing," the tall man replied, then pointed at the TV. "Are we gonna watch it now?"

"Yes!" Orihime yelled, catching the two boys by surprise. "I'll start making the popcorn! Make yourselves comfortable!"

After making a fool of himself, Ichigo found it a bit hard to get "comfortable", especially when Chad kept giving him knowing looks; he tried to ignore those by focusing on the movie as much as he could, avoiding even looking at Orihime.

His healer friend didn't take too long to forget about their flustered talk, getting engaged into the movie as soon as she sat, eating her popcorn with ketchup and drinking cola. The cake she'd made had tasted great, and he'd had more than one slice; he could definitely taste the chocolate, and also tasted a bit of orange, which would explain why the cake's filling was orange colored. Had he not been so smitten with his cake, he would've noticed the endearing look Orihime was giving him as he ate.

But Chad had noticed. Like always, he didn't say anything, he just watched his friends dance around each other, both pining and agonizing over their own feelings. Uryuu constantly said it tired him to see them do that, but Chad actually thought it was cute. He wanted them to sort things out, obviously, but sitting there knowing how they _both_ felt, whereas they had no idea, and seeing them act like blushing fools around each other… it was so cute, it made _him_ blush.

He felt his phone vibrating in his pocket, and as he opened it, he saw the message.

He'd been sitting by Ichigo's side, who was sitting in the middle, and Orihime was right by Ichigo's other side, unknowingly scooting closer to him, holding her knees and eyes wide. Despite both being too caught up in the film, both jumped in surprise when he suddenly got up.

"I have to go," Chad said.

"What?!" Orihime said, popcorn still in her mouth. "Now, Sado-kun?! The movie isn't even over yet!"

"Don't worry about it. I'll finish watching it another day,," Chad quickly came up with the excuse. "Something urgent came up,"

"Oh, really? What?" Ichigo asked, his mouth full of cake, Chad could only barely hear what he meant.

"My sensei sent me a message. He wants to see me now," Chad explained. He'd began boxing lessons for the past few months, and so far he was one of the best at his class, and his sensei constantly called him so they could discuss his future career as a boxer. Nothing urgent. Ichigo and Orihime didn't have to know that, though.

"Oh," Orihime made, lowering her eyes to the ground. "Well… I guess that's okay, then,"

"I'm sorry about this," Chad genuinely said. Half-genuinely, at least. "Keep watching the movie anyway. Ichigo will stay here, won't you, Ichigo?"

"Yeah. Don't really got anything to do," the orange-haired said. "You and Ishida need to watch for your schedules a bit more, though,"

"Yep. I know. Sorry, Inoue," Chad bowed to his friend, respectfully. "I'll re-schedule soon. This time, it will be at my place,"

"Of course, Sado-kun," Orihime softly said, smiling at her tall friend.

The friends said their goodbyes, and Chad left, taking Orihime's umbrella with him, because the girl kept insisting it might rain. After he left, Orihime closed the door and went back to Ichigo's side, and it was only then that both realized the current situation.

It was just the two of them.

Suddenly their focus on the movie weakened, and both started to sweat nervously; the air that had been chilly all night became too hot. As Ichigo tried to pay attention to the movie and ignore the situation, Orihime was having a hard time finishing her food, her mind now beginning to fill up with thoughts and _thoughts_.

Truth is, she'd wanted to invite just Ichigo to watch the movie with her, but panicked at last minute and decided to invite their friends along. She felt incredibly bad now, especially because a part of her liked being alone with Ichigo…

 _You're so selfish,_ one of the little blue men told her.

Listening to her sigh, Ichigo immediately turned to her.

"What's wrong, Inoue?"

"N-Nothing," she said, surprised. "I'm just thinking it's sad neither Ishida-kun nor Sado-kun could stay… this is such a great movie!"

"They both had their reasons," Ichigo shrugged. Then he swallowed dryly. "I'm… sorry if I'm making you uncomfortable… or something…"

"No! No, no! You could never make me uncomfortable!" Orihime said. "I… uh…" she lowered her hands, holding herself. "I'm actually glad you're still here with me,"

"That so?" Ichigo asked, smiling.

"Yup! It's… it's nice," her mouth formed a U shape.

"It is,"

And so the awkwardness began to weaver, and both unconsciously moved closer to one another. They watched the movie with ease, even when Orihime was holding onto Ichigo's shoulder tightly as the main character faced a horde of zombies by himself, or when their legs began to brush against the other, whenever they moved.

"How are things with Erina-san?" He asked, after the movie ended, and as the credits rolled on the black screen. "She treating you well?"

"We're getting along well, I believe," Orihime said, getting up and throwing her arms up, yawning. "We didn't see much of each other today, but we decided to go out this weekend again. I'm taking her to see Onii-chan's grave… she's not gonna be here for long, so it's best to take her there now,"

"I'm glad to see things are working out," he replied, picking up their plates and taking them to the kitchen.

"Because you encouraged me… I was able to open up like this," she said, rolling a curl of brown hair between her fingers.

"You keep praising me… I don't deserve all that…" Ichigo said, starting to get flustered. "I was just doing what any of our other friends would have done. And I already told you that I'm always here to help, if you need me,"

"I know, and I'm grateful for that," Orihime nodded. "Did you… huh… what did you think of the cake?"

For some reason, Ichigo flashbacked to three years ago, after they'd discovered about Uryuu's "betrayal", when Chad had turned to him and asked what he thought of Orihime's clothes. God, he'd made such a fool of himself then! And he'd even made Orihime cry…

"It was good. Really good," he said, smirking. "Your cooking really has improved,"

"Thank you!" she said, blushing at the compliment. "I've learned a lot of recipes at ABC Cookies, and Boss-san has been a really good sensei!"

"Your weeks sound better than mine," Ichigo whined. "All college gives me is work… I have an upcoming test two weeks from now on, and I haven't been able to study anything!"

"What's the subject?" Orihime asked, setting the plates Ichigo had brought at the sink.

"Math. You know how _good_ I am at that," he said, resting his back against the wall and watching her. "You're not gonna need any math with medicine! It doesn't make sense!"

Orihime giggled.

"I can help you study, if you want," she suggested. "I've always liked Math. And Aria-chan is coming back to work, so maybe Monday we can reunite after I'm done with work,"

"That sounds great!" Ichigo said, trying to hide his excitement. "You really are a guardian angel, Inoue!"

"Don't say that," she blushed.

"You are. You…" it was only then that Ichigo had realized they'd both walked towards each other, and now they were so close their chests were practically touching. "You… are…"

Despite taking notice of their proximity, none of them made a move to back away.

Despite the light being on, it was weak, so he could barely make out what else there was around them. In the darkness, all he could see now was Orihime's eyes, shining, and her pink lips, half-parted, as she looked at him, with something else in her eyes… something that had his heart racing, as though he was running a marathon. He wondered if she could heart his loud heartbeats.

"… amazing," was all that came out of his mouth.

As if it had decided for itself, his right hand moved and found its way to her left cheek, caressing it right where her bright blush was. She gasped lowly when his hand touched her skin, but her eyes never left his, and she didn't make a move to push his hand away. Had they ever been this close before? She'd had, the night when she left to Hueco Mundo, but this was the first time she'd been looking into his eyes, up close, _this_ close. That color of amber was so strong, bright, and beautiful…

And so close.

"Kuro… Kurosaki-kun…"

"Inoue…"

Ichigo never really knew which one of them moved first.

The kiss that followed was sweet and soft, and slow, tinged with an emotion neither of them could describe. Orihime's lips were better than anything he'd ever tasted, molding so perfectly against his own, he couldn't help but groan and suck on her lower lip, drinking the gasp she let out. His free hand rested against her back, bringing her closer to his chest, as her hands moved to his shoulders, fisting his shirt, trying to bring him closer as well.

As the kiss deepened, Orihime allowed her arms to wrap around his neck, falling into the kiss more and more, taking solace in the arms she'd wanted to be in so badly, for so long. It felt better than anything she'd ever imagined or dreamed of; even though both of them had never kissed anyone, so both were unexperienced and that showed, but that just didn't matter now.

It was so easy, too easy, to lose themselves in one another.

As the kiss stopped, both still lingered with their eyes closed for one moment, still caught up in the moment. Their noses brushed, and their ragged breaths mingled. Ichigo's mouth burned with want, and he felt the need to continue what they'd stopped, to dive in and feel her one more time.

But then both of slowly opened their eyes, and stared deeply at each other.

And they both realized what they'd done.

Orihime was the first to pull away, her face reddening like he'd never seen before, and covering her mouth, gasping in shock. Ichigo blinked three times before blushing madly as well, and taking three steps back. Both tried to say something, but nothing would come out.

"Ku… Ku… Kuro-…" Orihime was stuttering, unable to form words.

"I should go!" Ichigo exclaimed all of a sudden, making her jump. "That's right, go, I need to… go. Look, it's late! It's almost time to sleep! It's… 8:52, and I-I-I really need to go! See you tomorrow!"

"See… you…"

She sounded as confused and flustered as he felt, and he was unsure of what to make of that. He turned away from her and walked towards the door, even forgetting to grab his coat and the movie he'd brought. He closed the door behind him, and only then allowed himself to cover his face, touching his lips in shock.

He'd actually done it.

He'd actually kissed her.

As he practically ran towards his house, the chastised himself. So much for not giving into his feelings! So much for not imposing them on her! What a bastard he was, forcing himself on her like that and…

His eyes widened. Forcing himself? But she'd… she'd…

 _She kissed me back._

What did that mean?

 _Does she like me back? Does she actually like me back? Did she want this as much as I? Or… or…_

But she'd thrown that get-together as a way to thank him for what he'd done to her, so what if…?

 _Did she kiss me back because she likes me or because she's been feeling grateful to me? She seemed so surprised with what happened…_

Gah! His mind as all messed up now! He scratched his head. If he thought he was confused before this night, what he was feeling now must be the overload of confusion at 100% volts. But the hope that had died, so long ago, that she might like him back, slowly started to renew inside his heart.

 _Maybe… maybe she could actually… love me…_

TO BE CONTINUED….

-x-

Yeah, no shit Ichigo!

If y'all are thinking bc they've already kissed it's gonna be easy and peasy you've got a big storm coming, lmao. Jk, I just intend to explore on the lack of confidence and self-doubts both Ichigo and Orihime have when it comes to their own feelings. There's some drama going on, but hey… I brought Erina in the story for a reason…

Review?


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